Broken Past
by cocolatte
Summary: CREDITS UP! YYHIY X-over! Yukina and Keiko have been kidnapped and taken back in time, and the guys have to save them (of course). On the way they meet up with Inuyasha! NOO!
1. Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nadda, nilch, zippo (not the lighter, I don't own that either) nothing. So please don't sue. Because I am poor. Hence, I own nothing  
  
I wish I owned you Kurama! :( WAH!!!  
  
As always, this is non-yaoi. Couples include: Keiko/Yusuke Kuwabara/Yukina and maybe some Kurama/Botan, but I'm not sure . . .  
  
Inuyasha will show up soon, don't fret! Inuyasha/Kagome and maybe some Miroku/Sango, but once again, my mind is scattered and riddled with possibility! So tell me what you want!  
  
On with the story!  
  
Oh *this means that they are thinking*  
  
Prologue:  
  
A dark figure loomed behind the shire door of Genkai's temple, shrouded in darkness of the late night, the light from the street lamp seeming to shy away from the dark aura surrounding it. Silently the figure slid open the door and stepped in, hovering over to a sleeping Yukina. The koorime's crimson eyes drifted open at the feeling of someone near, and widened in terror as her mouth flew open to alert Genkai. But she never got the chance as a dark mist enveloped her and the two disappeared, leaving an undisturbed atmosphere behind.  
  
***  
  
Keiko opened her eyes. Something was wrong. Terror gripped her as she silently got up from bed and crept across the floor, looking for an intruder, or something. She was all alone, her parents were gone to visit her grandmother, and she had offered to stay home and watch the house. *Wow, that was stupid*. She thought now.   
  
Groping in the dark, she grabbed what she thought would be an admirable weapon: and empty, glass, coca-cola bottle. Slinging it back over her shoulder, she held it back like a bat. She inched down the hall, eyes darting through the dark, every hair on her body standing on end.  
  
Her foot eased down, and the floor let out a shrill squeak. Cursing under her breath, she stepped away, listing for a disturbance in the house. No sound reached her ears other than her own haggard breathing, and she continued on her trek.   
  
Her heart slamming in her ears, Keiko finally made it to the living room and reached around the corner, flicking on the light. No one was there. Sighing in relief, she turned to go back to her room.  
  
A scream pierced the night, startling a flock of birds out of a small tree outside the house. A dark, seven foot tall figure surrounded by black mist reaching out to shroud the air stood before her, the mist arching and diving for the girl. She threw the bottle at him and screamed again, running for dear life. Knocking over the coffee table in an attempt to stop the intruder, she picked up threw anything she could get her hands on at it.  
  
Keiko had just barely reached the stairs when the dark mist engulfed her, the two disappearing with nothing but a final, tortured scream .  
  
Did you like it? I know it's short, but there's more to come. Do you like the space between paragraphs? I think it makes it easier to read but, I donno. C&C is always welcome, even flames, even though they are for hotdogs, not for cheetos! 


	2. Discovered!

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I never will. I wish I did, but God hates me. ^-^  
  
*Shows thoughts or sound affects*  
  
Chapter One:  
  
Yusuke Urameshi strolled down the crowded sidewalk, his school bag slung over his shoulder lazily as he debated wether to cut class or go to school and just annoy all of his teachers. Finally he reached the building and slumped against the wall, waiting for Keiko. After about ten minutes, he frowned. It wasn't like her to be late for school, and she probably would have told him if she wasn't feeling well, but . . since when was he a girl expert?  
  
Turning, he saw a group of Keiko's ditzy friends staring at him and whispering to each other nervously.  
  
"What the heck are you lookin at me for?!" They all jumped, and two of them pushed a third forward.  
  
"W-well w-w-we wer-were ju-just w-wondering i-if y-you . ."  
  
"I'm not gonna bite off your head! Spit it out!"  
  
"HaveyouseenKeiko?" The brown-head finally rushed out, and looked extremely relieved that he didn't kill her. The bell rang loudly overhead as he shrugged.  
  
"Nope."   
  
"Well, do you know where she is? You are her boyfriend and everything . . ."  
  
"WE'RE JUST FRIENDS! CAN'T YOU PEOPLE GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEADS?!" He yelled as he flushed bright red, sending the terrified girl scurrying back to her little friends, who intern sprinted for the building. Yusuke chewed his lip nervously, why wasn't Keiko there? Maybe he was worried about nothing, but . .   
  
"Urameshi! Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled as he ran up, panting heavily.  
  
"I'm not gonna fight you Kuwabara, I . ."   
  
"Not that!" the exhausted boy yelled, "Yukina's missing! She . ."  
  
"What?!" *What if Keiko . . ?* "What happened?"  
  
"I don't know, Genkai sent me to come get you."  
  
"Then what are we waiting for?! Lets get going!" *Please, Keiko, be safe . . .*  
  
***  
  
Kuwabara and Yusuke burst into Genkai's temple, where a distressed Genkai, Botan, and Kurama where already assembled. Yusuke wondered where Hiei was, no way he wouldn't care about his missing sister.   
  
"Where's the shrimp?" Kuwabara asked, as if reading his friends mind.  
  
"I'm sure he'll be here soon." Kurama muttered, he and Yusuke exchanging a small nod.  
  
"So have we got any leads?"  
  
"None. Yukina disappeared in the middle of the night, nothing was disturbed or missing other than her. No note, nothing. Genkai didn't hear a thing." With a nod from the old woman confirming Botan's story, Yusuke felt a cold tingle run up his spine.   
  
"Keiko didn't come to school today." Everyone's head shot up to look at him.  
  
"We need to go see if she is alright." Kurama said calmly as he got to his feet, and Kuwabara nodded, the three boys sprinting out the door.  
  
***  
  
Hiei swore lowly from his tree top, scanning the area. He had sensed the disturbance with Yukina's energy and rushed to Genkai's to find her missing, nothing left except a faint alien spirit trial leading away from the temple. He had followed it as quickly as he could, just to be disappointed when it ended in the middle of the forest abruptly, as if whoever had taken his sister had just disappeared into thin air.  
  
Looking down he saw Yusuke, Kurama, and the idiot running down the street towards Keiko's house.   
  
"I won't fail you, Yukina." Hiei whispered, and turned to follow the group through the brisk morning air.  
  
***  
  
The three boys burst into the apartment, but nothing seemed out of place.  
  
"Keiko?!" Yusuke yelled, "KEIKO?!" he was going to feel really stupid if she had just slept in, but . .   
  
The group headed up the stairs, shocked at the new sight that met them. Books and clothing was strewn across the floor, tables and chairs turned over, glasses and plates lying shattered and forgotten on the carpet.   
  
"Oh, no. Keiko . ." Yusuke muttered. No doubt about it now, she was gone. And judging from the condition of her apartment, not in very good condition.  
  
"Don't worry, Yusuke." Kurama said gently, as if reading the boy's mind. "I can't smell any blood."  
  
"So she's missing too."  
  
"Yes." Kurama answered without turning, already knowing it was Hiei. "It seems Yukina was not the only one."  
  
"Hey, it's the shrimp." Kuwabara yelled, receiving a dark glare from Hiei, who was opening his mouth for a witty retort.  
  
"Did you find anything out?" Kurama interrupted before a fight broke out, and the fire demon shook his head.  
  
"The perpetrator's ki disappears in a clearing in the forest. I have no idea where it is, my Jagan can't locate it or the girls."  
  
Botan suddenly appeared outside the window, urgency on her face. "Koenma just contacted me, you need to hear this!" She slipped in and jumped of her oar, holding up her communication mirror as the others crowded around.   
  
"Alright sir, they're all here." Little toddler Koenma looked at them, grim expression on his baby face as he spoke.  
  
  
  
"Botan has informed me on the abductions. Recently we had a prisoner escape from confinement. His name is Natsu Ketsueki, and he's a time apparition. . ."  
  
"Time apparition?"   
  
"Yes. A demon that is capable of traveling back and forth through time. He is the last one left . ."  
  
"How did you keep him in a cell?"   
  
"With wards, As I was saying, he is the last one left in his race . ."  
  
"Why?"   
  
"Kuwabara, shut up!" Yusuke yelled, turning back to Koenma.  
  
"Thank you, Yusuke. But anyway, somehow he got outside help to remove the wards and escaped. I believe he has kidnaped the girls and gone back in time to lure you all there, where he believes you will be weaker."   
  
"Why doesn't he just go back and kill us all when we're defenseless toddlers?" Kurama speculated, and Koenma shrugged.   
  
"I never said he was intelligent. But I have been able to locate what time he is in, and I can assure you he will be staying there. With extra baggage he wont have enough energy to travel time again for at least two weeks."   
  
"So what time are we going to?"   
  
"The fuedal era."   
  
"Oh great!" Kuwabara yelled, throwing up his hands. "I read about this place in history class. ."  
  
"You can read?" Kuwabara ignored Hiei's remark and continued.   
  
"Everyone was just beaten the crap out everyone else, wars every few years, not to mention the stories about hundred foot tall demons." The orange haired boy shuddered, and Koenma nodded.  
  
"Yes, it is a difficult time to be in, but I think that is Ketsueki's intent. And it will be in your best interest not to make a big show about getting there. If Ketsueki knows that you're there, he will probably kill Yukina and Keiko."   
  
They all nodded in understanding.   
  
"So how are we going to get to the fuedal era?"  
  
"I have given Botan a device that will get you there safely. I'll contact you as soon as you get there, hopefully I'll have some more details for you." With that, Koenma's face faded and Botan closed the compact.   
  
"So what's this device?" Hiei asked speculatively. Botan shown them all her wrist, which was adorned with a bright pink watch.   
  
"It's the watch of time-travel! All I have to do is put in what year, day and time we want to be in, and there we go!" She fiddled with it for a moment, then pressed a button on the side.  
  
"Here we go!"   
  
"Wait! Can't we hold on a sec . ." Kuwabara was cut off when they disappeared with a flash of light.  
  
The end of Chappie one, and its a . . .cliffhanger! dumdumdum. Well, not really, but the chapter is longer than the prologue! Yay! C&C me! that didn't sound right . . . .^-^ 


	3. Hi, you must be Inuyasha

Disclaimer: ACHOO! I don't own . . .ACHOO! anything *sniffle* DAMN YOU ALLERGIES! I hate spring-time.  
  
*~Chapter Two~*  
  
  
  
The group made their way through the dense forest, Yusuke and Kuwabara grumbling about stupid trees and stupid bushes and just the all around stupid forest. They had just appeared there, and now they were sort of fumbling around .  
  
"So do we know where this guy is?"  
  
"Um, no."   
  
"You sent us back in time and we don't even know where we're supposed to be going?!" Yusuke yelled, and Botan grinned sheepishly.  
  
"Well, Koenma is supposed to contact us."  
  
"Well that's HELPFUL!" Just then, something in her pocket beeped noisily, and she pulled it out, examining it silently.   
  
"Demon compass? You still got that thing?"  
  
"You never know when something can be helpful, Yusuke!" Botan huffed, "And this happens to say that a faint signal is coming from the west."  
  
"Well it's a start." Hiei grumbled, "This is what I get for taking orders from a bubble headed ferry girl and a two year old."  
  
"Hey!" But all the same, the group began walking towards the west slowly, having to push through the thick forest, which is much harder than it looks.   
  
"Uh, we've been walking for hours! Are we any closer to Ketsueki?"  
  
"Kuwabara, it's only been ten minutes."  
  
"That can't be right!" he yelled, running over to Botan to glare at her watch. Defeated, he sighed.  
  
"I hate the wilderness."   
  
"And we hate you."   
  
"Shut-up shrimp!" They emerged into a small grassy field, and Hiei's head whipped about, surveying the area.  
  
"I'm going to scout ahead." with that, he was gone, flitting across the tree tops. The rest walked on, but were stopped by a voice behind them.  
  
"Die, demon!" A huge boomerang tore from the trees, headed straight for the group. They quickly jumped out of the way as it swung around, the weapon returned to the owner, who was standing in front of the bushel of trees. The woman expertly caught it, preparing to throw it again. They all raised an eyebrow at her strange black and pink outfit and mask as another figure materialized from the woods, but this was male with long white hair, dog-like ears, and golden eyes.  
  
He grew an incredibly large sword from a tiny sheath, pointing it straight at Kurama. "So you're the bastard that destroyed that village." Kurama looked genuinely confused, but that didn't seem to deter the demon.   
  
"Now why don't you come out of that stolen body and fight like a real demon?"  
  
"Stolen? Village?" Kurama looked at him, puzzled, but didn't have time to ask as the red-clad demon ran at him, swinging his sword. Jumping into the air and somersaulted back, Kurama easily avoided the blade.   
  
*This demon is powerful, I wont stand a chance in my human form, that leaves but one other option . * When he landed, they were looking at a different person. That person was the fox demon Youko Kurama.   
  
"What's this guy talking about?" Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke, who shrugged.   
  
"I don't know, but it's starting to piss me off." A small ball of energy had formed at the tip of Yusuke's finger, but he was stopped from shooting by that huge boomerang.  
  
"Don't even think about it!" the girl yelled, racing after them, along with some monk guy.  
  
"Well, looks like we got a fight on our hands."  
  
"Wow," Shippo whispered, staring at the seven foot silver haired demon. "He looks like Inuyasha!"  
  
"No, I was thinking more a Sesshomaru. Now keep quite!" Kagome said from her and Shippo's hiding place in a bush not far from the fighting grounds, "Inuyasha told us not to make much noise, this guy is dangerous."  
  
"I should have know." Inuyasha spat while looking up at the demon that was now a foot and a half taller than he, "That place reeked of fox demon."  
  
"Fox demon . ." Little Shippo's eyes got all big and starry as he stared at Youko.  
  
"I am afraid you have made a mistake. I did not attack any village . ."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say." Springing up into the air and swinging down, Inuyasha hit the ground where Kurama had been a moment before.  
  
"Rose whip!" Inuyasha jumped to the side as a green whip covered in thorns tore through the ground next to him, barely grazing his arm. Damn, this guy is fast! He thought as he brought Tetsusaiga around again, but the swift fox demon easily avoided. Dammit, how am I supposed to hit him?! Inuyasha yelled in his mind as he avoided another confrontation with the huge plant.  
  
"Ahhhh!" Kurama turned at the sound of Kuwabara's cry, and Inuyasha saw his opening. He jumped and brought the blade down, burying deep into Kurama's shoulder. Kurama let out a cry of pain, but suddenly the blade glowed and turned back into it's smaller, rustic self.  
  
Eyes wide, Inuyasha sprung back. "Tetsusaiga has turned back . .?" He sheathed the blade as Kurama got to his feet, smirking, one hand clutching his shoulder as blood gushed from the wound.  
  
"Before I was going to let you live, but now you've made me angry." The fox demon reached back into his silvery hair and pulled out a seed, a plant almost immediately sprouting from it and rushing towards Inuyasha.   
  
Kagome's eyes slid away from the scene to spot a young girl with strange blue hair hiding behind a tree. I wonder . . Slipping over, she gently tapping the girl on the shoulder, apparently startling her.  
  
Botan jumped and yelped, spinning around, surprised by the unfamiliar face. "Hello. Who might you be? I'm Botan."   
  
"Kagome. Did you guys really attack that village?"   
  
"Oh by no means! Kurama would never . . . "   
  
"Good, that's what I thought."   
  
Inuyasha smirked. "Oh well, I guess I just have to kill you the good old fashioned way." Tearing his arm, he hurled the blood at Kurama. "Blades of Blood!"   
  
Kurama back-flipped away from the attack, holding the plant out. "Shokuyou butsu!" Large red acid spitting heads appeared, wrapping around Kurama's arm and diving for Inuyasha.   
  
"Blades of Blood!" A few heads disappeared, but regrew, and Inuyasha dodged them, heading for Kurama.   
  
"Kurama, stop!"   
  
"Sit boy!" The two halted. Kurama called off his acid-spitting plant, and Inuyasha, well, had a face full of dirt. He got to his feet, clearly angry.   
  
"Kagome, what the hell was that for?! I almost had him!" Kurama snorted, shaking his head lightly.   
  
Kagome and Botan ran up. "Inuyasha, they didn't attack that village! They're from the future . ."  
  
"Oh, like you?" Rolling his eyes, he pulled out Tetsusaiga and examined its rusty blade. "If you ask me, this is a load of bullsh . ."   
  
"Inuyasha! They are telling the truth!" Kagome yelled, drowning him out. "Tell me, do you smell any blood on him?" Inuyasha stepped closer to Kurama, looking up at him, sniffing meticulously. Tension filled the air, and he turned back, sighing dejectedly as he sheathed his sword.  
  
"None but his own."   
  
"Oh, my." Botan said, realizing that he was still severing the blood flow with his hand. "Kurama, are you alright?"   
  
"I'm fine."   
  
"I have a first aid kit in my bag, if you need it."   
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"Thank you, Kagome, that would be wonderful."  
  
"I said I'm fine!" Kurama yelled, and Botan patted his back.  
  
"This is for your own good, Kurama."  
  
*Damn women*  
  
Looking around, Kagome realized how alone they were. "Hey, where did everyone go?" Kurama and Botan, remembering Kuwabara's cry, took off towards the other line of trees, the other two closely behind. They burst through the bushes to an adjacent field.   
  
Sango was riding Kilala, throwing her boomerang at a quickly dodging Yusuke, who was trying to hit her with his spirit gun. Kuwabara, on the other hand, was clinging to a tree while Miroku tried to suck the screaming boy into his wind-tunnel.  
  
"STOP!" Everyone turned and looked at them. "It's okay, we aren't enemies!" Miroku covered his wind tunnel after a moment of speculation and Sango landed, Kilala turning into a small kitten. Yusuke brushed himself off and Kuwabara finally let go of the tree, all of them coming closer, very confused.  
  
"Okay, let's start over!" Botan said cheerily. "This is Kuwabara, Kurama, Yusuke, and Hiei is up ahead somewhere. Oh, and I'm Botan."  
  
Miroku rushed forward, taking her hand and getting on one knee.  
  
"Oh, lovely Botan. I am the monk Miroku, and so pleased to make your acquaintance. You see, my story is truly a sad one, and I am in need of an heir . . ." Inuyasha pulled out Tetsusaiga at hit him over the head with it.   
  
"Don't start that again!"   
  
"Um, okay, well that's Miroku and Inuyasha, and this is Sango, Kelala, and I'm Kagome." she looked around her feet, "Where's Shippo?"  
  
Kurama felt a light tugging on his pant leg and looked down to see a pair of large brown, starry eyes gazing up at him excitedly. "Are you really a fox demon?"  
  
Kurama spotted the tiny brown ears and single bushy tail and lowered himself on his haunches, smiling lightly and nodded. The little fox's eyes grew to twice the normal size. Kurama smiled slightly at the chiled, and the little fox grinned back.  
  
"Am I gonna be as tall as you? Inuyasha always makes fun of because I'm short, but if I got really tall like you . ." Kurama laughed lightly, and Yusuke almost fell over. Youko Kurama, murderer and thief, just laughed at a little kids antics? And it wasn't bitter, or cynical, or mean . .Yusuke expected this maybe from Shuichi, but never from Youko. What was next, was Hiei going to jump around in a leotard and sing 'I'm so pretty'?   
  
He imagined for about a second, but then stopped. It was just too disturbing. Kurama reached forward and ruffled the kit's hair, still smiling. "I don't know about that, but you'll get up there."  
  
"Well, looks like Shippo's got a new role model." Sango said smiling, and Kagome nodded in agreement.   
  
"Hn. I knew Kurama was going soft."  
  
"Hiei!" The black-clad demon strode up, eyeing the new faces suspiciously. "Who are all these humans?"   
  
"Hey, who are you calling a human?"  
  
"You aren't a demon."   
  
"Shows how much you know. I'm a full fledged half-demon." Hiei smirked and started muttering something about 'half-breeds.'   
  
"What did you say?" Hiei just strode off towards Yusuke. "What are we doing with these humans? Isn't that one annoying enough?" He said glancing at an enraged Kuwabara.  
  
"Hey, at least I didn't run away when the fighting started!"  
  
"I didn't run away, you probably lost your fight anyway."  
  
"I did not! I just so happens . ."   
  
"Knock it off you two!" Yusuke yelled, holding the two away from each other, then turned to Hiei. "We really need to work on your people skills."   
  
"Hey." Miroku cut in, pointing his staff at Kurama, "You never explained how you got that human body yet."   
  
"Well, it's kind of a long story . ."  
  
"Alrighty then!" Botan said, reaching into her bag, "lets set up camp!"  
  
***  
  
Twenty minutes later, camp was set up, and they all where sitting around a crackling fire as the sun began to set. Kurama had explained his story, and reverted back to human form to prove it.  
  
"Oh, he's pretty." Sango blurted, then clapped her hand over her mouth, blushing beet red.  
  
"I think he looks like a girl."  
  
"Does not!" *Bang* Miroku clutched his head where a huge lump appeared as manga tears streamed down his cheeks. "What was that for?"   
  
"You're trying to keep a low profile right?" Inuyasha asked as he examined Tetsusaiga in the fire light, continuing when they nodded. "I suggest you stay in your demon form. Word about a red-haired green-eyed boy is going to spread around a lot faster than about a fox demon."  
  
Changing back, Kurama nodded, "I figured as much." Noticing that Shippo was curled up asleep next to him. He picked up the boy, careful not to wake him, and took him to where his sleeping bag was, tucking the little fox into his tiny bed.   
  
"You really like that kid, huh?" Yusuke said, watching the fox. Kurama looked up and smiled slightly. "Children are sacred to me."  
  
"How come?" Kurama sighed, eyes downcast.  
  
"I didn't have much of a childhood. My mother . ." he shook off the faraway look in his eyes, "wasn't exactly what I would call a perfect parent." Yusuke saw the expression on his face and decided not to question further.   
  
"Well, I guess everyone's got their weaknesses." Stretching, Yusuke rested back against a tree nearby, sliding to the ground, "Kuwabara has his cats, Hiei's got his sister . . ."  
  
"You've got Keiko." Yusuke blushed, smiling as the girls face came to mind. "I don't know, do you really think something you care about can be considered a weakness?"  
  
"If it's a stupid as a cat." A voice from the branches of the tree echoed, and they looked up to see red eyes.   
  
"Where is Kuwabara anyway?"  
  
"He and that Botan girl went to sleep, 'exhausted from they day of fighting.'" Hiei snorted, muttering something about 'baka human.' Yusuke and Kurama laughed gently, looking back at the group huddled around the fire.  
  
"Do you think we can trust then?" Miroku wondered aloud as he poked at the fire with a piece of charred wood, coaxing the dying flames back to life.   
  
"I don't know." Inuyasha muttered, glancing back at the group around the tree. "I don't like the smell of that fox."   
  
"Oh, Inuyasha, you worry to much." sighing, Kagome looked at the conversing group too as soft murmurs rose from them, "I mean, how can you not like someone who cares that much about a little kid like Shippo?"   
  
"What about the other ones?"   
  
"Yusuke is nice, I guess, kind of a tough guy thug sort of attitude, and Kuwabara's kind of an idiot." Tapping her jaw while she stroked Kelala, Sango shrugged, "That Hiei person is kind of weird, but Kurama isn't a bad guy."   
  
"That's just because you like him."  
  
"Do not!"  
  
"Do too." *Pow!* Now Miroku had a twin lump on his head.  
  
Stretching, Inuyasha got up, "I'm going to bed."  
  
And Inuyasha is introduced! Yay! That chapter was kinda Kurama-centric, but I'm planning on doing a chapter like that for most of the characters. Plus, everyone loves Kurama! *drool* C&C please, boost my self-esteem if you want more! 


	4. A little bit too hospitable

Disclaimer: Do I have to say it ?. .okay . .   
  
Cheeto *stands up* Hi, my name is Cheeto  
  
Group: Hi, Cheeto  
  
Cheeto: And I . . . don't own Yu Yu Hakusho *sobs*  
  
*clapping*  
  
Councilor: See, class? Acceptance is the first step to recovery.  
  
Anyway, thank-you everyone who reviewed! You love me, you really love me! *waves supermodel like* or, aleast you love my fic, which is just as good! Keep it up!  
  
Anyway, a question arose if Yusuke was going to be a demon in this story. Hm. Yes, probably. See since Raizen is his ancestor, not his father like many think, Inuyasha couldn't sense him being a demon. So, I'll probably have him go demon form in a couple of chapters and kick some major ass! Yay!  
  
Oh, and also . .I was so impatiant to update my story that I waited until 12:15 AM after a whole day, just to make you wait! Mwahaha! And, if you haven't seen Finding Nemo, it is like the cutest movie ever! Except for screaming kids in the theatre! *chases after toddlers with a flamethrower* DIE!!!  
  
*~Chapter Three~*  
  
It was a bright, new morning when Yusuke got up. He was surprised to find that he was the only one. Sliding out of the sleeping bag and getting to his feet, he rolled it up and decided to go for a little walk.  
  
It was beautiful, a gentle breeze rustling the flower-spotted grass, making a sort of wave shimmer through it. The sun was just barely peeking over the rolling hills, so the sky was still a shade of grey and the land chilled. Walking a bit more, Yusuke noticed that his pant legs were getting soaked by dew, but really didn't mind.   
  
He almost tripped over a small stream and knelt next to it, cupping some of the frigid waters and splashing it over his face, shuddering at the sort of cold satisfaction. As the sun rose higher, no sounds could be heard, except for the babbling of the brook and the occasional gust of wind.   
  
Smiling, Yusuke and flopped down onto the ground, not caring it his whole backside was wet from the grass, letting the growing light warm him. Birds began to twitter amongst themselves, as if wondering wether it was time to awaken the world with their songs, deciding so after the gentle sounds of the forest coming to life.  
  
"Nice morning, isn't it?" Kagome whispered as she sat next to him, not making too much noise in fear of disturbing the wildlife. "Don't see this in our time, it's nothing but apartments and building." Yusuke grunted in agreement, and they relaxed in a comfortable silence. Kagome lay down near him, staring into the clear blue sky. It was going to be a good day.   
  
Botan and Sango sat near the sat on logs near the smoldering ashes that had once bore the name of fire, brushing their unbound locks carefully.  
  
"I guess I should warn you."  
  
"About what?" Botan asked as she pulled her azure hair back into it's trademark ponytail, then took Sango's locks into her hands, separated them into three thick strands, and began to intertwine them in a distinctive pattern.  
  
"Well. . .Miroku . . he's a sweet guy but," Sango frowned, tapping her chin with one hand as the other stroked Kilala, who was nestled in her lap. "Lets, just say, he has a habit of not keeping his hands to himself. And I don't mean in a good way."  
  
Botan stopped, sweat-dropping and turning bright red. Suddenly, the two broke into giggles, almost falling off the old logs they were sitting on.  
  
"Hey, what are you guys laughing about?" Kuwabara asked, sitting down on a large rock next to them as he pulled his shirt the rest of the way over his head.  
  
"Oh, nothing Kuwabara." Botan said, waving her hand, embarrassed.  
  
Kurama sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He got to his feet, surprised that almost everyone else was up, even though it was just after dawn. Those herbs he took must have made him more tiered than he thought.  
  
"Come on, people, let's get moving." Miroku yelled, drawing Kagome and Yusuke from the edge of the field towards them, and everyone else to their feet. The monk slung his bag over his shoulder, picking up his staff with his wrapped hand, "There should be another town over the next few ridges."  
  
Kurama went over to the tiny figure of Shippo, who was still very much asleep, and shook him gently.  
  
"Five more minutes." Shippo grumbled, pulling up the blanket and rolling over sleepily. Kurama smiled and picked up the little fox, rolling up his little cot and carrying it too.  
  
They began to leave the field, talking and laughing, when Kurama and Inuyasha stopped abruptly. Hiei, too had paused for a moment, his Jagan eye glowing under the white headband.  
  
"What's wrong guys?"  
  
"Sh." the area began silent as they watched the two canine demons. Their ears twitched, searching for sound, Kurama's tails quivering with anxiety as their noses sniffed the air delicately. All three demons exchanged a look and nodded. "Demons."  
  
As if on cue, dozens of demons crashed through the woods, headed straight for them. Strangely, they all looked alike. hey were all a monster that resembled a sand colored bony, human corpse dressed in clay armor armed with crude swords, daggers, clubs, bows and arrows, and everything else imaginable.  
  
"Take Shippo." Kurama said, shoving the sleeping fox into Botan's arms. "Now you and Kagome get out of here!" And he was gone, thought racing through his head. This was close combat, and anything very large or very deadly could harms his friends, so . .Kurama plucked a seed from his hair, a plant covering his hand and forming a sharp spear/sword. *Might as well do it the old fashioned way.*  
  
"Dragon of the mortal flame!" Hiei yelled, the attack sweeping through about twenty of the things, disintegrating them on the spot. He watched in horror and amazement, though, when the cinders flew together and re-molded into the dirt colored demons once again. The things lashed out and he slashed with his katana. The waist fell off the legs, but now it attacked as two things instead of one, the head trying to bit off his ankles while the feet ran around like a beheaded chicken.   
  
"Shotgun!" *Dammit, why won't these things stay down?!* Yusuke thought angrily as his attack tore through the skeleton-like soldiers, but they just got right back up and came back for more, reassembling their various body parts and attacked like nothing had happened.  
  
"Urameshi, why wont these things die?!"  
  
"How the hell am I supposed to know?!" Kuwabara was chopping them in half, but he got no better results than Yusuke. Wit one quick motion, he chopped of one's head, but the body kept swinging the sword wildly.  
  
"That's not right . . ."  
  
"Dragon of the mortal flame!" Hiei blew the suckers to ashes, but he already realized he had just bought himself seconds before the next attack. *Dammit! What the hell are these things made of?!*  
  
"This isn't working!" Sango yelled as she and Kilala flew overhead, avoiding arrows and plowing through the things with her boomerang. Only Miroku seemed to be having luck, merely sucking them into his wind tunnel.  
  
"Where are they all coming from?!" For everyone that disappeared into his hand, there were two more to replace it!  
  
"Ahh!" Miroku cried as a six-inch dagger found it's way deep into his back, the thing wrenching it down to for a huge gash, knocking him into unconsciousness as the zombies began to pile around him.  
  
"Stay away from him!" Sango yelled, jumping down, fighting them off with her small close-range sword. A club appeared out of nowhere, smashing her in the side of the head, knocking her out almost instantly with a spurt of blood. Kilala dove for her owner, but was thrown off with a number of arrows into her side. Reverting back to her small kitten form, she fell into the horde of attackers.  
  
Kurama saw something out of the corner of his eye and gasped, racing for Botan as arrows hurtled for her. No time to knock them off course, just had to stop them . .   
  
"Kurama!" Botan said in surprise as he slid in front of her. He grunted in pain as his body was thrown slightly forward. Reaching back, Kurama muffling a cry of in pain as he grabbed the tails of the arrows and wrenched them out of his back, leaving three puncture holes.  
  
"Oh my God!" He pulled out two seeds that immediately became roses, muttering a few words. The petals flew off, forming a flurry around her, Shippo, and Kagome. More arrows flew forward, but just bounced off the beautiful shields. Suddenly, he was gone, tearing through more soldier things with his green sword.  
  
Kuwabara cried out in pain as two arrows found their way into his leg, another two piercing his side. He collapsed, blood gushing from the wounds and puddeling around him as the brown corpses began to surge toward his body.  
  
  
  
"I'm out of energy!" Yusuke yelled, punching a zombie in the face. They just wouldn't end! It was becoming very clear that they just might just lose.  
  
"Kagome, is there a Shikon shard anywhere?!" Kagome peered through the flurry of petals. She hadn't seen one before, but maybe. . .   
  
"Yes, Inuyasha, there! On the top of that tree!" They all looked up to spot a dark figure chanting wildly, it's eyes glowing bright red. Inuyasha was about to jump up and take care of it, but was halted by a voice.  
  
"Dragon of the Black Flame!" and it's namesake appeared, a huge black, fiery dragon exploded from Hiei's arm, writhing towards the figure and seeming to devour him. Suddenly, all the soldiers disappeared, leaving behind small piles of dirt.  
  
"They were just sand?" Botan asked, kneeling next to one of the piles, touching it gently.  
  
"Shikon shards do that sometimes." Inuyasha mumbled, tearing an arrow from his shoulder, then he flitted off. Hiei stumbled, Yusuke and Kurama appearing at his side immediately.  
  
"Hiei, you alright?"  
  
"Shouldn't have used those attacks, so close together . ." He mumbled and slumped, Yusuke catching him gently and picking him up. Dragon of the black and mortal flame so close together multiple times had to be exhausting.  
  
"I got him." he said to Kurama, who nodded, going over to the other wounded. Tearing the knife from Miroku's back, he slung the monk over his shoulder, them moved onto Sango, who was still passed out, also picking her up. Kagome went forward and cradled Kilala gently, removing the arrows with a wince. Inuyasha eased the bloody Kuwabara off the ground, careful not to touch the arrows protruding from his body.  
  
"Are you sure your alright, Kurama?" Botan asked as she examined his bloody back, and he shrugged.  
  
"In this body I have a very high tolerance for pain."  
  
"Well, lets get going. If someone else shows up, we're pretty much screwed." Inuyasha grumbled as they headed over the hill's crest.  
  
When they all felt like they couldn't possibly walk another step, they came upon a small cottage at the edge of a subdued town. Inuyasha banged on the door, drawing a small old woman from the house.  
  
"May I help you?'  
  
"Yeah, you got a doctor or a healer or something in this dump?"  
  
"No, but I think I can help your friends. Come inside, please." She led them in, going to a closet and pulling out some cots in which they lay their unconcious friends on.  
  
"You have healing abilities, correct?" the woman asked Kurama, who was kneeling next to her.  
  
"Yes, some. . ."  
  
"Kurama!" The little fox leapt onto Kurama, surprising him and knocking him to the floor. His eyes widened and he bit his lip until it bled to stop himself from screaming in pain as his back slammed into the hardwood floor. The three puncture wounds tore open even wider, blood gushing across the floor.  
  
"Shippo! Get off him!" Kagome screeched as she ran forward to pull the boy off.  
  
"What's wrong, Kurama?" Shippo asked as the fox's teeth ground together and his fingernails dug into the floor boards as the puddle of blood widened. Kagome pulled of the small fox and knelt next to Kurama as he struggled to sit up.  
  
"Kurama, are you alright?" Shippo saw all the crimson and gasped.  
  
"Kurama, you're bleeding!" The kitsune bit back a *No shit*, shutting his eyes even tighter and clenching his fists to ward of the searing agony that tore through his back. Cool hands touched one of the wounds gently, and he hissed in pain.  
  
"Oh, my, you've been carrying them with wounds like these?"  
  
"I'm fine." he muttered gruffly, wincing as he tried to get to his feet.  
  
"By the expression on your face, I think it's safe to say you're lying." Inuyasha smirked at the growl that rose from the kitsune's throat. Never before had the half demon met someone who's arrogance matched his own.  
  
"My wounds aren't as serious as theirs, help them first." The old woman sighed and moved away from him.  
  
"If you insist." She went over to Kuwabara, removing the rag that Yusuke was pressing to his friends side, tearing out the arrows as the boy yelped in pain. Gently removing Kuwabara's shirt, she reached for her herbs, but was stopped by Kurama.  
  
"No, I can heal him." The fox stumbled over and knelt next to Kuwabara, using some of his ki to close the wounds. The old woman went to Miroku, tearing a hole in his robes and examining the long split.  
  
"I can handle this one." she muttered almost forcefully, pulling out bottles and bandages, carefully dressing the wound. After a few moments, she went to the kitten that had moved from Kagome to Botan's lap.  
  
"Um . ."  
  
"Don't worry!" Botan chirped, "I'm already taking care of this one!" Her hand hovered above the small animal, tiny yellow threads of light resembling lightning trickling down into the wound, and after a few moments she was fully healed. The old lady looked at Hiei and Sango, and seeing no life threatening injuries, left them alone to sleep. Now she turned a concerned eye upon Inuyasha's arm.  
  
"Don't even think about it hag. I'll be fine by tomorrow."  
  
"Sounds like you, Urameshi." Kuwabara muttered as he rolled over in his sleep, causing Yusuke to grin.  
  
  
  
Kurama looked up to see Botan sitting down across from him, her hands already lightly glowing from spirit energy. He fixed her with a glare, but she just frowned at him and shook her finger in his face.  
  
"You helped me Kurama, now let me help you." He looked at her for a moment more, then nodded slightly. She cupped his face and let her energy out as he stared into her eyes with his bright, golden irises. She didn't shy away from him, but instead returned the gaze with the same intensity as he had given. After his wounds fully closed, Kurama uttered a low moan and slumped into Botan's arms.  
  
At first she was surprised, then smiled lightly, gently easing the fox onto the floor. Healing usually made both the giver and receiver exhausted, and with his other wounds it must have knocked Kurama out. Botan yawned as she covered him with a blanket, then went to join the others around the small stove where tea was brewing.  
  
The old woman left to go get some more blankets, and Inuyasha cast an evil eye after her. "Something isn't right about that old lady, I mean, who would help a bunch of bleeding demons on your doorway?"  
  
"Oh my God, Inuyasha, does everyone have to have an ulterior motive with you?"  
  
"I wish Hiei or Kurama were conscious, then they could read her mind or something." Yusuke muttered as he scratched his shoulder, wondering why it was so irritated.  
  
"Yusuke, your bleeding!" he looked at his hand, which was covered in blood, and wondered why he hadn't noticed before. Oh, wait, he had. That would explain a few things. The old woman hurried out, helping him by applying herbs to the not very deep gash in his shoulder. After that, she stood hastily.  
  
"Come, it is time for you all to get some sleep." They all nodded and followed as she led them into a back room.  
  
***  
  
Miroku's eyes slid open, adjusting to the pitch black of night, and he sat up. Or at least tried to, until he figured out that he couldn't move.  
  
*What happened?* He thought groggily. His mind was swimming and he was having a hard time concentrating. Feeling a presence near him, he stilled and listened to try and figure out who it was.  
  
Warm, gentle breath played across his neck as fingers with long, sharp nails traced light circles on his bare chest.  
  
*What?*  
  
"Good, your awake." a soft, feminine voice whispered, "I wouldn't want you to miss this." A face emerged in his line of vision. It was a young woman with folds of bright blonde hair, innocent brown eyes and large, black-tinted spots. Her teeth were very big, fang-like.  
  
"It's been so long." she moaned softly as she lowered her head back down to his neck, rough tongue darting over his pale, creamy skin.  
  
*This could get interesting . .*  
  
"Since I've had human blood." *That can't be good.* Now Miroku tried to call out to somebody, anybody, but no sound emerged from him. Summoning all of his strength, he tried to move his hand to unleash his wind tunnel, but he didn't so much as twitch.   
  
"Don't even try to move." She purred, her tongue tracing his lips, then pressing hers to them as she crushed herself hard against him. Pulling away, she smirked."You won't be able to move for at least three days or so."  
  
"Your other little human friend has a bit of demon blood in him, so his blood will be naturally sweeter, but I like you more." *Who? Inuyasha? Yusuke? Well, at least I was the favorite in death.* The monk thought sarcastically as his eyes darted around the room, looking for someone, anyone! But he couldn't see, her face filled his vision. Her body was taut against him, her fingers running through his hair as her tongue swirled in his mouth teasingly.  
  
"Usually, I like to play with my victims before I kill them," her voice thick with desire, "But since your friends are here, I guess I'll have to make a quick kill. Such a shame."  
  
The woman's face went to his neck and her teeth grazed it. Miroku closed his eyes, waiting for impending doom. She bit down.  
  
Blood sprayed everywhere  
  
What have I done to Miroku?! I have kilt him! *evil cackles* Or maybe not, you'll have to stay tuned in to the next chapter! *Sees mob of Homicidal Miroku fans standing outside of Cheeto's window with torches and a battering ram * Crap. Help me!!! Remember, leave reviews!!! 


	5. Suspense no more!

Hey, Guess what?! I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. And . . . . .  
  
You get to find out what happends to Miroku!   
  
Aren't you so happy?  
  
Well?  
  
I can't hear you . . . .  
  
What, you want me to stop talking so you can find out what happens to him?!  
  
That's not very fun . . .  
  
*Random object is thrown and hits Cheeto in the head* Ow! Well if your going to get pushy . . .   
  
*Mob appears* Okay fine, next chapter!!!  
  
*~Chapter Four~*  
  
Blood sprayed everywhere, and a thud rang out.   
  
Miroku opened his eyes to see a blonde head rolling across the floor, a mask of horror etched as her final features. Her headless corpse dropped onto him, blood gushing everywhere. Miroku would have screamed in revulsion if he had not been paralyzed, and was relived when Inuyasha pushed the carcass off of him.  
  
"Miroku, are you alright?" the demon demanded, and seeing no visible injuries, even though his absolutely covered in blood, assumed his friend was fine. Botan and Kagome ran around the room, lighting various lanterns to light the room. Hiei, Sango, and Kurama all began to stir.  
  
"Miroku, what's wrong?" Kagome demanded, concern and worry covering her features.  
  
"Can't . . . .move . . ." he groaned, drawing the others over. He was surprised that he had managed those two words, though he knew he wouldn't be able to again for a while.  
  
Kurama came over, helping Miroku sit up, then gently touched Miroku's back wound and sniffed the blood. "Wormroot. It's a relaxant, but overdoses can cause paralysis and inability to focus. I know a few herbs that can counteract the symptoms . ."  
  
"Later. This is a leopard demon, the blood will draw others. We need to get moving." Inuyasha said as he picked up Miroku. Botan was gently shaking Kuwabara awake as Hiei and Sango drew their weapons, making sure nothing would catch them by surprise.  
  
"Yusuke." Kurama said gently, shaking the boy. His eyes opened, then widened in surprise and darted around in shock.  
  
"Yusuke's been poisoned as well." Kurama said as he gently picked up the boy and carried him piggy-back style.  
  
"Come on Kuwabara, time to get up." Botan said, helping him up and slinging one of his arms over her shoulder as he leaned heavily on her. They all got out of the house, desperate to get away as fast as they could.  
  
Yusuke's eyes drooped as he was carried across the plains and through sparse forest. His body felt numb, like some crazy dentist had pumped every muscle in his body full of novocaine. All of his muscles were slack, his mind drifting from topic to topic lazily.   
  
*I wonder where Keiko is. She's pretty, nice thighs . .*  
  
*I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts . .there they are a standing in a row . Dum dum dum*   
  
*Wonder if mom is drunk again . .hey look, a duck!*  
  
*Why is Kurama walking so fast? How come he's tall? Why can't I be tall? I'm like an oompa loompa, or a munchkin . . .*  
  
*We represent the lolly-pop guild, the lolly-pop guild . .or is it kids? . . . . stupid movie*  
  
***  
  
They were in the middle of a field once again, most of them asleep. Kurama had found a few herbs and was now boiling them into a tea. The kettle whisled as he took it off the open fire and poured it into two cups, adding a few more plants to soak in. Now they had the daunting task to try and pry open Miroku and Yusuke's jaws to give it to them, but it wasn't as easy as it seems.  
  
"He bit me!" Hiei yelped, jumping back and examining his fingers while he glared at Yusuke.  
  
*Finger food. Heh heh heh.*  
  
"Just give him the tea."  
  
"He won't open his goddamn mouth!" Kagome took the tea from Hiei and knelt next to Yusuke, pinching his nose closed with two of her fingers.  
  
*Can't . .breathe . . .*Yusuke gasped and she poured the bitter tea into his mouth, massaging his throat to force him to swallow. She smirked at Hiei, who returned a growl. Doing the same to Miroku, they all sat back and watched.  
  
Miroku's eyes slid open, and he gasped. Botan and Sango leaned forward, concerned. "What's wrong?!" The two paused, then blushed deep red as they felt a gentle squeeze on each of their bottoms.  
  
*Bam!* Botan's oar magically appeared and smacked the monk in the head, leaving a sizeable lump. Sango, though, was knocking herself on the head with her fist gently.  
  
"I can't believe I fell for that one again."  
  
"I trust Miroku is feeling better." Inuyasha mused, judging the looks on the girls faces.  
  
"Oh yes, alive and kicking."  
  
Yusuke, too, sat up, cradling his head. "Ow. Does anyone have any Advil or anything?" Miroku sat up, grabbing his staff.  
  
"Oh, yes, that reminds me." he looked at Inuyasha, getting to his feet and standing next to the boy.  
  
"Why *bonk* did *bonk* it *bonk* take *bonk* so *bonk* FOR YOU TO KILL HER?! * bonk bonk bonk bonk BONK*"  
  
"Ow!" Inuyasha yelled, clutching his head where the monk's staff had repeatedly, well, uh, bonked! "I don't know, maybe she just wanted to . ."  
  
BONK!  
  
"Kagome, what the hell was that for?!"  
  
"There are children in the room!" she yelled as she pointed at Shippo, who looked confused.  
  
"What are you guys talking about?"  
  
"Heh heh heh. Nothing Shippo!" Botan said, running up and clapping her hands over the boy's ears hurriedly.  
  
"Well, I say we go get ourselves somewhere nice to stay, maybe some people in the next village will know where this time person you keep talking about is." Miroku said, "That seems like the only productive thing we can do now."  
  
  
  
Hey, I know it was a short chapter . . .don't hurt me!!Oh, and with Yusuke and the whole thinking random thoughts thing, I thought of that when my friend said "I don't have attention defaci-lets go ride bikes!" *Little light bulb goes on* See my idea? I'll try and make the next chapter longer. Gomen!  
  
Oh, and thank you so much everyone who reviewed! You sent me to my happy place! ^-^ Keep it up! 


	6. Bathouses and shiny things

Disclaimer: Don't own it . .blah blah, never will . . .  
  
Anyway, after an overwhelming number of death threats, I decided not to kill Miroku. J/K. Actually Chapters 3&4 were already done when I posted Chapter 3, but I decided to make you wait! ^-^ A story can't be good without suspense!  
  
Hey, do you think I should tone down all the blood and gore in my story? That last chappie was pretty gruesome, headless people rolling around . . .  
  
Anyway, we have reached the big 3-0!!!!! PARTY! I can die happy, I have gotten thirty reviews, if just 4 DAYS!!!! AND THEY'RE ALL GOOD!! ( at least I think so) HOLY CRAP!! *keels over from shock* Let's get to 50! WOOHOO!  
  
*~Chapter 5~*  
  
"I have exorcized your Inn of all of it's demons, you shall have no more trouble with them. In return humbly ask for a few rooms for me and my companions."   
  
"Oh, yes, of course! Anything you ask!" The little man, who was presumably the owner of the extravagant hotel, said with so much sweetness you could have poured it over pancakes. Scurrying down a hall, he showing them three empty rooms, casting a wary eye on Inuyasha, Kurama, and Hiei.  
  
"Please, take these! Free of charge, of course! Help yourself to the bathhouse, also free of charge for our beloved guests. Thank you for protecting us, great and powerful monk!" He gushed, bowing quickly, then straightening his glasses and hurrying off. Miroku had picked one of the finest and largest hotels in the sizeable city, 'exorcizing' it of demons.  
  
"I sensed no demons here." Hiei muttered suspiciously, eyeing the monk.  
  
"Yes, well, that is another one of Miroku's endless talents." Sango muttered sarcastically as Kilala purred in her arms.   
  
"Who cares, as long as we got the rooms?" Inuyasha said as he went inside one, examining it carefully. "It's better than sleeping on the ground, right?"  
  
"I agree!" Botan smiled, making a peace sign, "If we're stuck in the fuedal times, might as well enjoy it, right?" Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd, and Kagome looked around nervously.  
  
"But who is going to room with who?"  
  
*Well, this is going to be interesting.*  
  
***  
  
Well, after much arguing, it was decided that all the girls would sleep in one room and one of the guys would sleep in there with them, incase someone attacked or something.   
  
"So who's the lucky guy going to be?"   
  
"I'll do it!"   
  
"NO, Miroku." he stuck out his bottom lip, but the girls shook their heads at him dejectedly.  
  
"What about Kurama? I want to play with his hair." Kagome smiled, "It's so pretty!"  
  
"Your leaving the kitsune alone in a room with the women."Hiei said slowly, "When probably half of his past lovers came together and wrote the Karma Sutra? That's intelligent."  
  
All the girls face-faulted as Kurama smiled devilishly, "Uh, no, never mind."  
  
"What's the Karma Sutra?" Shippo asked innocently, and Sango's eyes widened.  
  
"Uh, nothing Shippo, forget we ever said it! Ha ha ha!"  
  
"Um . .okay."   
  
"What about Inuyasha?" Botan asked, and the dog demon and Kagome exchanged a look.  
  
"NO!" they yelled simultaneously , and Botan sweat-dropped, "Oh, alright then."   
  
"Hey, what about me and Kuwabara?!" Yusuke demanded, "We both have girlfriends, or friends that just happen to be girls that we really like, but nothing serious is going on and we don't secretly have a crush on them ha ha ha. ."  
  
"Well, Kuwabara had a crush on me once, and I don't really trust him in a room with me . ."  
  
"Hey!"   
  
"And Yusuke, you're just a peeping Tom!" she yelled, and he blushed bright red.   
  
"Hey, that one time was an accident, okay?!" he looked around, "But then who's left?" A few seconds past, and then one name rang out.  
  
"Hiei!" He looked up at them, horror on his usually blank features. "Oh, no. There is no way I'm going to watch a bunch of human girls paint their nails and gossip and talk about boys and crap like that."  
  
"Please?" All three girl fixed him with irresistible puppy-dog eyes that just screamed give-into-the-cuteness-and-obey-my-every-whim.  
  
"No."  
  
"Please?!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well then." Botan huffed, "I guess I'll just have to tell Yukina you're little secret . ."  
  
"You wouldn't!"  
  
"Oh, I would."  
  
"I'd kill you before you got the chance."  
  
"I'm already dead, baka." Hiei's eyebrow twitched while everyone stared in utter surprise at Botan's boldness. The fire demon reached for his bandage around his arm, then sighed.  
  
"Hn. Fine. But I'll still send my dragon after you if you tell her, your human form will still be able to feel the pain of death."  
  
"Good, it's settled then!" Botan said happily, "Now the rest of you can separate the rooms amongst yourselves, we're going to the baths!" The three girl started down the hall and were brushed by a dark haired brown eyed human, who smiled and winked at them. All three immediately began to chatter and giggle.  
  
Hiei then began to bang his head against the wall.  
  
"I'm so sorry."  
  
"I hate you all."  
  
"I would happily trade places with you . ."  
  
"No, Miroku."   
  
It was then decided that Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara would share one room, and the others the last. Botan and the other girls got their robes and headed outside, soaking in the steamy hot springs.  
  
"It's so nice here." Botan murmured sleepily as she sank deeper into the steaming, cloudy water, sighing contentedly. Each girl had a towel fastened tightly around them, even if they were in the water. This was a public place after all.  
  
"I don't know." Kagome muttered from her perch on the slick black rock side-railing, looking around nervously. "With so many guys around, I'm kind of worried." She adjusted the pink towel around her more securely, looking as Botan. "Are you sure that Hiei guy won't look in on us?"  
  
Botan giggled, "No, Hiei isn't the type, at least I don't think so . ." She shrugged. "Let's just try and enjoy ourselves, right?"  
  
Sango nodded, slipping into the water, then grasping her hands together and squeezing. A small stream of water spurted up and hit Kagome square in the face.  
  
"Hey!" she jumped in, "This means war!"  
  
***  
  
The boys, mean while, decided to go and get some food. They went to the large, fine dining room, and sat down. They had no trouble fining a seat, as nearly everyone cleared out when they saw the demons enter.  
  
The place was magnificent, silky, velvet cushions for you to sit on as you dined at the polished wooden table with intricate carvings of snarling dragons and roaring tigers as the feet. The china was luminous white porcelain, and even the chopsticks where brightly polished. Red lanterns hung above their heads, giving the place a dark, eerie, yet romantic atmosphere.   
  
The waitresses were dressed in light pink or purple kimonos, rushing about with full and empty trays, never losing their composure. The doors were surprisingly free of Geishas looking for their nightly employment, which just supported the fact that this place was very expensive and very high class.  
  
A waitress came, and Kuwabara and Yusuke ordered nearly everything on the menu for themselves and their companions.  
  
"Hey, it's free, why not indulge."   
  
*Can't fight that logic* Inuyasha smirked as the waitress scurried off. About twenty minutes later she and three others came, carrying trays upon trays of steaming rice, noodles, pork, chicken, tea, chilled sa-ke, and of course, sushi, octopus, squid, and various other fish. The seasonings wafted in the air making, reminding the boys how long it had been since they had a proper meal.  
  
Yusuke grabbed platefuls of everything, covering his rice and vegetables with soy sauce before diving into the first course. He felt his heart pang as he thought about Keiko.  
  
*She would love this place.* They had traveled for two days with little rest due west when suddenly Botan's compass died, reason unknown. She had given it Kurama to tinker with, but he had gotten no results so far. Now there was nothing to do but slowly go west, and hope for a sign to where the girls might be.  
  
A girl came to collect the plates, lifting the one in front of Kurama and placing it on a tray. Brushing her jet black hair back, a bracelet sparkled on her wrist as she was about to stand, balancing the trays delicately. But then she caught the kitsune's eyes, and was immediately drawn into their golden depths.   
  
Only Hiei and Yusuke saw what Kurama was doing with his own hand, and they had to suppress snickers so not as to alert the girl. Realizing she had been staring at a customer for over a minute, she blushed and stood, rushing away embarrassedly.  
  
"You just couldn't help yourself, could you kitsune?" Hiei muttered as Kurama smirked, raising his hand. In it was the girls bracelet.  
  
"When did he get that?" Miroku asked, completely oblivious to the fox's fast hands. Shippo's eyes widened and he gasped.  
  
"Kurama! You shouldn't take things from people! It isn't right!" Kurama laughed at the irony, then examined the bracelet. It was nice, solid gold, worth a bit. His brow furrowed as he felt a flash of something strange.  
  
"Kurama, what's up?" Kuwabara asked, leaning over to look at the bracelet, "Why you staring at that bracelet so hard? Something wrong with it?"  
  
"I don't know." He muttered, tucking it away, frowning. Yusuke shrugged, turning back to his rice bowl.  
  
"Pass the sushi."  
  
***  
  
Hiei went up to his room, which was already covered with girly things. Ek. He snorted and opened a window, smirked with relief when he saw a tall oak tree right outside. Sighing almost happily, he flitted up into it, and watched as the bright sun slowly slid behind the mountains in the far distance.  
  
Kagome's head peeked out, looking around worridly. "Hiei? Hiei? Are you out here?" She called, and received a grunt for a reply.  
  
"Oh, there you are! Do you want to come inside?" she asked, whipping out a flashlight and holding it under her chin, "We're telling scaarryy stoorrriieess!" She moaned as the light shadowed her face, uh, 'scarily'.  
  
"No."  
  
"Fine then!" She yelled, "You're just like Inuyasha!" The window slammed shut as Hiei smirked, settling back against the rough bark as the stars, one by one, began to twinkle radiantly in the dark sky.  
  
  
  
"Hiei!" Yusuke hissed as the fire demon's eyes snapped open. He yawned slightly, not realizing he had fallen asleep.  
  
"Come on, we're gonna find out about this bracelet Kurama's been talking about." Judging from the moons position, he had only been asleep for about a half hour. Flitting down from the tree branch, Hiei landed beside Yusuke and the both returned to the hotel, where Kurama and Kuwabara where waiting   
  
"So yo figure out what's wrong with it?" Kuwabara yawned, and Kurama scowled, his golden eyes narrowing in thought.  
  
"No. That's what we're going to find out." Secretly, Kurama had no idea why finding out where this thing came form was important, but it was like this little voice screaming in the back of his head, telling him that it was, indeed, very vital in their situation.  
  
Briskly walking down the hall, he stopped a maid before she entered a random room.   
  
"Tell me, young lady." He said, turning on full you-can't-resist-me Youko charm, he smiled. "It seems one of the waitresses dropped her bracelet at my table, could you perhaps tell me who it belongs to?" The lie sounded genuine, even to Hiei.  
  
"Um, well, yes." The girl stuttered, blushing slightly as she looked away from his bright eyes. "It belongs to Hitaru, she should be in the kitchen . ." Kurama smiled, causing her to flush an even deeper shade of crimson.   
  
"Let's go." Kurama muttered, turning away from the love struck girl, who appeared to be on the brink of fainting.  
  
Passing many a swooning maid, they got to the kitchen without too many disturbances. Kurama poked his head in, once again a sweet smile plastered on his face.  
  
"Excuse my interruption, but could you tell me where a Ms. Hitaru is?" A group of girls broke into squeals of laughter as one stepped forward, Kurama immediately recognizing her.  
  
"T-that's me."   
  
"May I have a word with you?" He said, his words coated with sugar. Kuwabara and Yusuke could hardly keep themselves from rolling around the ground in laughter while Hiei just smirked. *Your talents with women are truly endless, are they not, fox?*  
  
The girl called Hitaru's head bobbed reverently as she stepped jerkily from the other girls and out into the hall, Kurama firmly closing the door behind them. She seemed surprised to see the other boys there, and turned to Kurama, puzzlement on her features.  
  
"Tell me, Hitaru," Kurama said, pulling out the sparkling bracelet, "Where did you get this?"  
  
Her eyes widened in shock as she searched her wrist, then turning back to him when she realized it indeed was hers.  
  
"M-my uncle." she stammered, "He gave it to me, a-as a birthday present." Kurama's hand flew out, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall.  
  
"Liar!" he snarled, "I can smell it, don't try and deceive me." her hands wrapped around his, trying to tear them away from the crushing grip he had on her neck.  
  
"Kurama, what . . ?" Botan's eyes widened as she came out into the hall.  
  
"Not now woman." he snarled angrily. Botan shadowed a hurt look, biting her lip and regaining her composure.   
  
"I'm telling the truth.!" Reaching back into his hair, Kurama grabbed a single seed, large vines growing sprouting it and arching towards the squirming girl.  
  
"Don't test me."  
  
"Okay, fine!" The girl gasped, "I got it-I got it on the edge of town . .from this blind peddler. His- His name was Kayto Inushiri. He said-he said it would me irresistible! He said. . ." Kurama released her, letting her fall to a heap on the floor.  
  
"If you tell anyone about this, I will kill you." He threatened coldly, turning away from Hitaru's quaking figure before she promptly fainted, "Let's go, we have no time to waste. Get the others and meet me in the front of the hotel." The boys left quickly, and Botan too started for the door when Kurama gently grasped her wrist.  
  
"Botan, I'm sorry for snapping at you . ."  
  
"It's quite alright, Kurama, I knew you were busy, I shouldn't have interrupted . . ." She said, forcing a small laugh and smiling, though she could not seem to meet his eyes. His words had stung more than she thought, and Botan couldn't seem to figure out why.  
  
Kurama reached up and gently tipped her head up, her candy-colored eyes meeting his dark golden ones. She held her breath as she felt herself being pulled into his gaze, his head gently lowering down to hers, their noses touching faintly. His lips dipped down to brush hers gently when Yusuke burst into the room.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt you two." he grinned as Botan and Kurama quickly tore away from each other, the first as red as a tomato, "God, tell me not to waste time. Everyone's waiting outside, but maybe I should just tell them you're busy . . ."  
  
One look from Kurama quickly denounced that as a bad idea, and Botan laughed and began to babble.  
  
"Oh, that won't be necessary Yusuke, Kurama and I were just, uh, talking, yes, talking . . ."  
  
"Oh, yeah, sure looked like it. . ."  
  
"I've seen much worse from you and Keiko." Kurama retorted smugly, turning Yusuke a shade that could compete with Botan's,  
  
"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?! Where just friends okay!"  
  
"Whatever you say, Yusuke." Kurama called as he went out the door, the blushing boy quickly following. Botan felt her lips gently with two fingers, silently recalling the light touching of his lips against hers. They were so soft, like rose petals . . .snapping from her thoughts, Botan smiled secretively, then ran out the door.  
  
"Hey, wait for me!"  
  
***  
  
"A blind peddler?" Miroku cocked his head to the side as they strode through the nearly empty city streets. The few people that were out were nervously scurrying back to hotels or homes, or closing up their various shops or stands. "Sounds suspicious to me."  
  
"Yeah, how do we know we can trust that girl? She could have lied and skipped town by now." Inuyasha grumbled, and Kurama shrugged.  
  
"She was not lying when she spoke of the peddler." Kurama muttered as they came upon a plain, brown wooden door. Not bothering to knock, Yusuke just pushed it open and strode right in like he owned the place. Previously, Kurama, realizing that he had no idea where this 'peddler' lived, went back to the girl and shook her awake, demanding directions. She had babbled out a vague description, then fainted once more.   
  
"May I help you?" An old voice called out, a small man with grey sprouts of hair, a hunchback, and a cane came down the stairs, headed for the group. His eyes were brown, clouded by a milky white haze signifying his sightlessness. He gave then a toothy grin, or lack-of-toothy grin.  
  
"Yes, did you give this to a girl named Hitaru?" His placed it into the old man's wrinkled palm. His withered face crunched in concentration as he stroked the bracelet, then smiled.  
  
"Ah, yes. Hitaru Munoki. Yes, I placed an enchantment on it, makes her irresistible to any man she so desires. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Why don't you drop the disguise, 'old man'." Hiei scowled, the creased face of the elder frowning in response.  
  
"You aren't fooling anyone."  
  
See, a Kurama/Botan moment and a bunch of stuff that doesn't make any sense and seems totally irrelevant! But it will in the next chapter, I assure you! Keep your pants on, and review pplz!  
  
Oh, and sa-ke is a japanese alcoholic beverage, and it's spelled sake. But it looks like *sake* so I put the - there so you wouldn't get confused! ^-^ 


	7. Old men and short memories

After a small bout of writers block and a ton of goddamn computer troubles, here is the next chapter! YAY! School is out! WOO HOO! PARTEY!! YAY!!  
  
Disclaimer: *Cheeto tied to chair under bright light with men in black suits circling* Don't make me say it! You can't make me!  
  
Man #1: Oh yes we can. *shuffles around on carpet with socked feet and walks up to Cheeto* *Shock!*  
  
Cheeto: Okay, okay! I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho! I don't!  
  
Man #2: We don't care about that. It's the other thing . . .   
  
Cheeto: NOOO!!!  
  
  
  
  
  
*~Chapter 6~*  
  
"You aren't fooling anyone."  
  
"You are a smart one." a smooth voice hissed as the old man sprung back, his appearance swiftly changing. "I was wondering when you would get here, Inuyasha."  
  
"Who are you?!" Inuyasha demanded, drawing Tetsusaiga. The old man laughed as his back straightened and a wave swept over his shin, turning it a steely blue. Scales flourished across his body, stopping at the center of the waist and the base of the neck, covering everything but the stomach and head. The moustache disappeared and the tufts of hair on his head grew into long, black tresses that reached his waist. This is when they realized that this he was indeed a she.  
  
"I am Ceaha, the illusionist." A bow and quiver of arrows appeared form no where as the girl drew it, smirking. "Die." The arrow flew and disappeared, but Inuyasha was smart enough to jump to the side before it buried itself into the ground where he had been. Kagome looked at the girl and gasped.  
  
"Inuyasha, she has a shard of the sacred jewel in her waist!" Ceaha laughed, putting a hand over her navel daintily.  
  
"Yes, and I have been promised another if I can kill you!"  
  
"Who promised you this?" Miroku demanded, drawing a small chuckle from the girl.  
  
"The great demon by the name of Naraku."  
  
"Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled, "That would explain a few things." The girl giggled, and totally vanished.  
  
"Where the Hell did she go?!"  
  
"I am an Illusionist, idiot. Let us take our battle outside." A voice hovered above them, seeming to come from no where and everywhere at the same time. The front door opened and slammed, everyone rushing after it.  
  
When they reached the outdoors, they were not in the town that they so recognized. The surroundings were that of a desert, barren of buildings and life of all kinds. The illusion was so real, they could almost feel the heat and taste the wind blown sand that wafted through the air.  
  
"We have a great disadvantage here." Hiei muttered, drawing his katana as his Jagan searched futilely for a trace of the girl.  
  
"Yes." Kurama agreed, "Ceaha bands the light waves around herself and others, creating illusions. The only way to find her is by touch or hearing, she is strong enough to fool our other senses. Sight is not trustworthy in this battle."  
  
"I can use my wind tunnel, it does not judge by sight." Miroku said as he went to unsheathe his hand, but was stopped when suddenly Sango disappeared.  
  
"What the Hell?!" Sango reappeared, but did not move or speak. She began to flash between the familiar girl and their new foe.  
  
"Which is it? Sango or Ceaha? Can you be sure?" The sugary voice wafted overhead, laughing. "Use your wind tunnel monk. Take a chance. It's me or Sango, you choose." Miroku looked at his hand and re-wrapped it after only a moments hesitation.  
  
"Good choice." Sango/Ceaha disappeared, the voices going silent.  
  
"Now where did she go?" Inuyasha muttered, looking around nervously.  
  
"What happened, where is everyone?!" A shrill voice rang out and they all looked around for the source, but could find none.  
  
"Sango, where are you?!" Miroku yelled worridly.  
  
"I don't know . .I-I can't see anything." Though her training as a demon slayer, she could not keep the panic out of her voice.  
  
"Ceaha is bending the light waves away from her body and eyes. She is as blind to us as we are her. Ceaha will take the form of Sango if any of us becomes a threat and go in for a sort of ambush." Kurama muttered as the grass sword enveloped his hand.  
  
"Very good. You are smart, for a kitsune." she laughed delightedly and a flitting noise was heard.  
  
"Move!" they all jumped to the side, three arrows appearing in the ground where Hiei and Inuyasha had just been standing moments before. Giggles breezed through the air, taunting their helplessness.  
  
"What the hell is so funny?!" Yusuke demanded as a small ball of energy formed at the tip of his finger, "I can't even sense her energy! You getting anything, Kuwabara?"  
  
"Nothing. Not even a little." His spirit sword was out in full, and he was swinging at even the smallest sound. The air was tense, barely anyone moving or breathing.  
  
"You look ridiculous." Ceaha mused, "But that is all about to change, because you are about to die."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, quit your jabbering, I haven't seen anything yet!" Yusuke took the words right out of Inuyasha's mouth. More flitting was heard and they all ran, a line of arrows following Yusuke as he ran. He spun on his heel and raised his arm, a bright beam shooting from his index finger.   
  
"Spirit gun!" It burst from him, shooting up towards the sky. Ceaha appeared for a moment, clutching her singed side, then once again vanished.  
  
"You are going to pay for that!" Kagome's eyes searched for the faint pink glimmer of a Shikon shard, but no matter how many times she looked she couldn't seem to locate it. Then she got an idea.  
  
Closing her eyes, Kagome reached out with her mind to try and pinpoint it. There! She felt it lightly, and a faint image appeared in her mind. It was the teal colored girl, poised with a dagger, headed straight for Inuyasha's back!   
  
"No!" Kagome cried, running forward. She cried out in pain as she reached Inuyasha, the blade piercing her back instead of his.  
  
"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried, catching her in his arms as she fell. Kuwabara ran up and jumped into the air, his sword slicing through seemingly air, black blood spraying everywhere. The illusionist appeared, falling to the ground as the orange haired boy withdrew his sword, the woman crying out in agony.  
  
"You haven't won." She gasped, "that dagger is laced with deadly poison, that girl will be dead before the night is done . ." The girl slumped, glazed eyes staring into nothing. The desert disappeared back into empty streets and Sango reappeared a few feet from where she had gone missing, running up to the others.  
  
"Kagome." Inuyasha murmured, cradling her gently. Kurama pushed forward, kneeling next to the girl. Her eyes were glassy as she struggled for air, her throat constricting. Her eyes felt heavy, her chest tight with pain. She wanted to sleep, she was so tiered . . .  
  
"Kagome, Kagome, listen to me." Kurama said gently, cupping her face in his hands.  
  
"Listen to me. Keep your eyes open, okay? Don't go to sleep. Do you understand?" She nodded numbly as she stared up at him with half-lidded eyes.  
  
"Take her hand." He told Inuyasha, who faltered. "Do it!" Inuyasha quickly clasped her hand in his, squeezing it gently. He was terrified for Kagome, he couldn't lose her . . .  
  
Kurama reached to her back, tearing out the dagger. Kagome screamed in pain, her back arching as she crushed Inuyasha's hand so hard that she almost broke his fingers. "I'm right here, Kagome. It's going to be alright." he murmured as Kurama examined the wound.  
  
"Shouldn't you suck out the poison?" Miroku wondered aloud.  
  
"I am a thousand years your senior, boy, I think I know what I'm doing." Kurama snapped as he gently took the girl from Inuyasha. "Lets get back to the Inn."  
  
***  
  
Inuyasha paced the room mercilessly as everyone watched him, "Inuyasha, you are going to make a hole in the floor. Why don't you come and sit down."  
  
Rather than listen to reason, Inuyasha kept pacing. "Dammit, isn't that kitsune done yet?!"  
  
"Inuyasha, these things take time. You want Kagome to live, correct?"  
  
"Shut-up monk." This was his fault. Maybe if he had been paying more attention and watching Kagome, they wouldn't be in this predicament . . .  
  
Kurama came quietly out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him just to be almost barreled over by the dog demon. "How is she? Is she okay?"  
  
"I can't be sure. The poison has progressed quickly, but I think I was able to catch it in time. I placed the bloodsucking plant into her body . . ."  
  
"Wait, isn't that what you used against Karasu?" Kuwabara asked as he scratched his chin thoughtfully.  
  
"Yes, but . . ."  
  
"Are you crazy?!" Yusuke demanded, "That wont help her! She's going to explode into a huge flower like Karasu did!"  
  
"What?!" Inuyasha demanded, grabbing Kurama by the cuff of his shirt, "You're trying to kill her you BASTARD! I never should have trusted you . . ." With a swift motion of his hand, Kurama sent Inuyasha sprawling into a far wall.  
  
"If you would listen before you shoot of with that large mouth of yours," Kurama said calmly, "The bloodsucking plant sucks blood, hence the name. Thus it was suck out the infected blood, and then I remove it. This is the only way I can see that Kagome has a chance." Kurama looked over at Inuyasha's scowling face and smiled lightly.  
  
"Would you like to see her now?" Inuyasha nodded and stood, following Kurama into the room. Kagome lay on a small bed, pale and drawn while little Shippo sat next to her, holding her hand.  
  
"Come on Shippo," Kurama nodded at the small fox, " Let's leave these two alone." Inuyasha chose to ignore the sly tone in Kurama's voice and sat down next to her as the door shut quietly behind him.  
  
"Kagome, you idiot." he murmured as he unconsciously reached for her hand. "You should have just let me take the hit. . . .stupid . ." Why had she done that, for him? He had always been rude to her, or . .He clutched her hand tighter, sighing.  
  
They sat together for what seemed like an eternity, the silence comfortable. Inuyasha would speak sometimes, reminding her of one of the many adventures they had been on, or how he was going to kill her if she didn't get better . .  
  
Kurama appeared once again in the doorway, "Times up, Inuyasha, I need to remove the seed."  
  
"Alright."He cast one last glance at Kagome and sighed, leaving only after a few moments. *Please Kagome, get better. I can't lose you. Not like Kikyo . . . *  
  
***  
  
Kurama pulled the seed form Kagome's back, tucking it back into his silver tresses. It looked like she would make it, but he wouldn't be sure until morning. Her brow was still fevered, her skin clammy and pale. Kurama placed a cool rag across her forehead as Yusuke walked in.  
  
"She gonna be okay?"  
  
"I do believe so. Have we gotten any new information on Keiko or Yukina?" Yusuke leaned back against the wall, yawning loudly.  
  
"Nope, none." Then he frowned, "Hey wait, wasn't Koenma supposed to contact us a couple of days ago or something?" Kurama nodded thoughtfully.  
  
"Go get Botan, ask her about that." Yusuke nodded and left, returning with the blue haired girl.  
  
"Did Koenma ever contact you?" Botan thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, he didn't. That's strange. I had forgotten all about it."  
  
"Yeah, so did we." Yusuke muttered, his brow furrowed. "Wait, don't tell me that little mirror thingy is broken too."  
  
"I don't think so." she fumbled around in her pockets, then produced the mirror. Opening the small compact, she called out. "Koenma? Lord Koenma? Are you there?"  
  
"BOTAN!" The little toddler yelled, the pacifier almost flying from his mouth. "Where the HELL have you been? I tried to call you . . .how many times George?" The blue ogre appeared with a pen and paper in the background.  
  
"Uh . .three thousand, eight hundred and fifty three times."  
  
"Thank-you ogre. Now why didn't you answer the stupid compact?!" Botan face-faulted and sweat dropped, smiling sheepishly.  
  
"I must have forgotten to turn it on, sorry Koenma." Yusuke and Kurama face-faulted as she laughed embarrassedly. Getting up, Yusuke pushed Botan out of the way and looked into the mirror.  
  
"Do you know where Keiko and Yukina are?"   
  
"No. But I do have Ketsueki's location.. There are mountains thirty miles to the north, and I have a faint lock on him there. He isn't moving, so it should probably take you about a week to get there."  
  
"Good." Kurama muttered from behind them, "But it will probably take us longer. Demons seeking these Shikon shards that Inuyasha has keep popping up everywhere."  
  
"Inuyasha?" Koenma cocked his toddler head to the side as Yusuke shrugged.   
  
"Long story. But thanks for the info. See ya soon!"  
  
Woo hoo! End o' chappie!   
  
Oh, Karma Sutra is a little book full of things couples can do when they're . . .*bored* eheheh *Face-faults*  
  
REVIEW! So close to fifty! SOOO CLOOSSSEE!! ^-^ 


	8. True love?

Sitting at computer at 3:43 am with Styrofoam cup of ramen noodles, typing at her NEW laptop.  
  
I think I broke my toe. *pokes swollen purple toe* Ow.  
  
Hello peoples. Thanks to four different naps yesterday, I can't sleep. X-X. So I am going to write. Methinks everything is going to start coming together in this chapter, and you'll all say 'Oh, so that's why' or 'Oh no! That's bad! Look out!' or 'Wow, Cheeto is such an awesome writer we are going to review right now!' :D  
  
Oh, and also, I have been notified of all my wunnerful spelling mistakes (thankie and gomen Katzztar) but I do have something to say in my defense!!! It's Kirara in the original japanese version, but was changed to Kilala because the producers thought that the original name would be too hard to pronounce.*sweatdrops* so I'm kinda going with the dubbed version because . . .I donno I just am, but I thought it was spelt with an 'e'. So I'll fix my error in later chappies. Gomen!  
  
And the futile thing was just my bad . . .*sweatdrops* I'M A BAD AUTHOR! *sobs* Oh, well, I know what you're saying:  
  
'Cheeto stop making excuses and get on with the next chapter!' heh, alrighty.  
  
Oh, I don't own it. Tear. If I did, I wouldn't be on Prozac.   
  
So, brought to you by insomnia, here is the next chapter!  
  
*~Chapter 7~*  
  
Yusuke sat in a corner of the room, popping his knuckles mercilessly. *Dammit* He got up and went out the door, slamming it behind him.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Kuwabara asked Miroku, who shrugged uninterestedly and went back into deep thought.  
  
Yusuke paced the deck, he didn't like staying in one place. He didn't like to strategize, he was more of an act now think later kind of person. And with Keiko in trouble . . .He was restless, and worried, though he would never admit it. Things get bad, put on a smiling face. Make jokes, take your mind off of it. That's what he had learned, especially with a drunkard for a mom . . .  
  
It was annoying, all this waiting. That was all they ever did, was wait. Wait, wait, wait. Yusuke popped his knuckles again, going over to the small forest that nearly connected to the hotel area. He spotted a small tree and punched it, again and again, trying to keep his mind off things. When he was fighting, he was totally concentrated on defeating his foe, he didn't have time to worry about . . . .Keiko . . .  
  
*Dammit, why wont this Ketsueki bastard come out and fight like a real man?! Kidnaping girls, what a wimp. . .*  
  
  
  
"Urameshi, where'd ya go?"  
  
"Over here, Kuwabara." Yusuke muttered, stepping away from the splintered stump that had once been a tree.  
  
"You worried about her, Urameshi?" Yusuke grinned and scratched the back of his head, laughing embarrassedly.  
  
"Nah, Kuwabara, why would you think that?"  
  
"Oh, come on Urameshi, you aren't fooling anyone!" Kuwabara shook his head and sat down. Yusuke came over and sat next to him, sighing heavily.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I am. What about you, you worried about Yukina?" Kuwabara blushed, grinning sheepishly.  
  
"I donno, Urameshi. I mean, we haven't felt any disturbances in their energy, so she has to be okay, right?" Yusuke nodded. They had been able to sense the girls energy, though unable to sense where it came from, the signal was healthy, though a bit weaker than it should be.  
  
"Yeah, I guess."  
  
"I mean, we are moving much slower than I want, but worrying wont help Yukina, right?" Yusuke nodded again, he was right, after all.  
  
"I mean, I'm still worried about her, but ya gotta just keep thinking that they're fine, and just waiting for us to come rescue them!" Yusuke looked over at Kuwabara, who had his love headband on with stars in his eyes, pointing off into the distance. Yusuke face-faulted.  
  
"Kuwabara, just when I thought you were getting as IQ point you have to go and do that."  
  
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"  
  
  
  
"Just like I said, but I'll simplify it: You're stupid."  
  
"Come back here, Urameshi! I'll kick your ass!"  
  
"Yeah, I'd like to see you try!"  
  
Hiei snorted from his perch in the tree above. * How immature* But it was somewhat nice to know that the idiot was at least concerned about his sister. *Hn, numbskull.*  
  
Yusuke grinned as he popped Kuwabara right in the face, sending the boy sprawling. "Just give up, Kuwabara, you're never going to win."  
  
"That's what you think!" Yusuke smiled as he easily dodged a blow to the gut, countering it with another punch to the carrot-heads face. Kuwabara's pep talk had left him in lighter spirits, and pummeling the guy helped some too.  
  
"What is that? A hundred and thirteen to zero?" Kuwabara stumbled to his feet, wiping his chin as he laughed.  
  
"Ah, Urameshi, I let you win."  
  
"Sure, sure." Yusuke looked at Kuwabara as they walked back to the hotel, smiling gratefully. "Thanks, Kuwabara."  
  
"Letting you win wasn't that hard!" Yusuke shook his head. "Idiot."  
  
"What'd you say Urameshi?!"  
  
***  
  
"I have been wondering about that bracelet, Kurama, did you ever figure out what spell was on it?" Miroku asked and Kurama nodded.  
  
  
  
"Yes, but that is what is most puzzling about it." He pulled out the small chain, holding it up into the light.  
  
"The enchantment is an energy draining, sometimes used by time apparitions like Ketsueki. It is given to a host and drains the host's spirit energy and transfers it to the demon. These enchantments are sometimes needed to sustain the time demons, since time travel is such an exhausting power.  
  
"But as I understand, Ceaha was in this Naraku persons employment. So that means that . . ."  
  
"You mean," Sango choked out, "That Naraku . . .and Ketsueki . .could be . . ."  
  
"Yes, we could now have allies to deal with. But I don't understand how, if at all possible, this could come about."  
  
"You would be surprised." Inuyasha muttered, "Naraku has a talent of making enemies into associates. Sesshomaru being one of them."  
  
"Sesshomaru?"  
  
***  
  
*~Flashback to three days earlier~*  
  
A dark figure walked through the meager forest, headed towards the tall mountain when he noticed a strange power and stopped.  
  
"Who are you, what do you want?" The figure said calmly, turning to the bushes near him. A hunched figure clad in a baboon pelt emerged from the tree line, the beast's head masking the strangers face.  
  
"Excuse my impertinence. I am Naraku, and I believe we can assist one another." Ketsueki glared at the demon, a crooked smile plastered on his pale face.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"We are after the same group of people. I, Inuyasha, and you, Yusuke Urameshi, whom I heard is traveling with the dog demon I am after."  
  
"And this concerns me how?" Naraku laughed lightly, then produced a small pink jewel shark, holding it between two of his fingers as he displayed it for the time apparition.  
  
  
  
"This is a shard of the sacred Shikon jewel. You have had a great power decrease recently, and this will help you regain at least three fourths of what you have lost, plus after you are recovered, make you twice as strong."  
  
"I also have demons I can send after the group to delay them until you regain your complete power. Hopefully, but unlikely, this Yusuke may be killed by one of them. But as I said, it is unlikely."  
  
Ketsueki's bright white eyes glared at Naraku suspiciously. "What is in it for you?"  
  
"You must kill Inuyasha."  
  
"Fair enough," Ketsueki smirked, "Now hand over that shard."  
  
"Demanding one, aren't we?" The demon snickered and flicked his finger, sending the shard shooting between Ketsueki's eyes.  
  
The demon screamed as the shard burrowed deep into his skin, the cry piercing the silent forest.  
  
***  
  
Kagome opened her eyes, groaning. She felt like crap. Her head was throbbing, her stomach doing flip-flops. The room was blurry and she closed her eyes, re-opening them in an attempt to make it clearer.  
  
"Kurama?" she called out, surprised at how weak her voice sounded. His lovely pale face appeared, worry tinting his features.  
  
  
  
"Kagome, how are you feeling?"  
  
"Awful." she moaned. After a few more moments of questioning form both sides, a worried look crossed Kagome's face. "What about Inuyasha?" The fox smiled and stood.  
  
"I'll go get him for you." Inuyasha walked in a few minutes later, sitting down cross-legged next to her. But instead of asking her how she was . . .   
  
"What the hell were you thinking Kagome? Are you stupid or something?! You should have let me take that hit, you idiot! I would have been fine, but no . ."  
  
"Inuyasha you jerk!" she yelled, rolling over on her side away from him, after a moment her shoulders began to shake.  
  
*Oh, great, you've done it now!* he thought, *you just had to go and make her cry.*  
  
  
  
"Kagome, what's wrong? Come on, don't cry . . " he said with all the gentleness he could muster, which was like saying Hiei was sweet.  
  
She sat up and looked at him angrily, wiping her eyes. "I asked Kurama and he said that the poison was twice as deadly to demons as it is humans! You would have been dead if not for me!"  
  
*So she really did save me . .* "Kagome . .I-I . . ."  
  
She smiled brightly at him, "Apology accepted!"  
  
"Hey, who said I was apologizing?!"  
  
"Inuyasha, you . .you . ." her face flushed bright red with anger, "SIT!"  
  
Everyone outside of the room snickered. "Sounds like Kagome is feeling better." Shippo commented after a large thud and cry of pain was heard, sending the group into a fit of laughter.  
  
Yusuke stopped laughing after a moment, a puzzled expression covering his face. "Hey, Kuwabara, you aren't supposed to fight girls, right?'  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"Well, Ceaha was a girl, right?" he nodded, still not catching on.  
  
"And you killed her, right?"  
  
"Yes, one for the record books, the horse-faced oaf actually killed something."  
  
"I'll beat your face in, shrimp!"  
  
"Kuwabara, just answer the stupid question." Kuwabara blinked for a moment, then cried out.  
  
"OH NO!!" Manga tears streamed down his face as he groaned, "There goes my honor code . . ." Yusuke thought for a moment.  
  
"But wait, we don't really know if she was a girl right?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well, she was an illusionist, right? So she could have been some freaky sick-o guy that wanted to make us think he was a chick." Kuwabara thought about it for a moment, then grinned.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, you're right! Woo hoo! My honor code is still in business!" Kurama was about to mention that she would turn back into her original form in death, but then decided not to 'burst their bubble' as the humans put it.  
  
"Yeah!" Yusuke grinned, "Her boobs were to small to be a real anyway."  
  
*Bam*  
  
"Botan, what the Hell was that for?!"  
  
"Oh, if Keiko only knew what you were doing while she's gone! When she hears about this!"  
  
"Oh, Botan, come on! It was just an innocent observation!"  
  
"Innocent my foot!"  
  
"They argue like a married couple." Miroku muttered, Sango nodding in amused agreement. Yusuke and Botan shot them both death glares.  
  
"You take that back right this instant!"  
  
"I was only telling the truth . . ."  
  
"Shut-up!"  
  
"WHY DON"T YOU ALL SHUT-UP?!" A tenant from another room yelled. They all looked at each other and broke into giggles, even Hiei cracking a smirk.  
  
Alrighty, end of chapter! I personally like this chapter, it has a good mix of humor and seriousness. ^-^  
  
It rained here, in the desert. So I left for about a half hour and went and splashed around in puddles. It was fun! *^-^* Now I'm soaked with probably acid rain that is probably eating through my flesh right this instant *sigh* o well!   
  
Oh yeah:  
  
  
  
FIFTY REVIEWS!! WOO-HOO! YEAH!! MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!! *happy dance*  
  
ahem, sorry about that *blushes* thank you everyone who reviewed, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!  
  
Err . . .as friends! *grins sheepishly*  
  
Stay tuned for the next chapter! REVIEW! ! 


	9. Over used trends

I SOWWWWWWYYYY!!! *grovels* Seems we got back just in time to have AOL problems and then we switshed to MSN and then . . . GRR!! I couldn't update, it wasn't my fault!!!  
  
*Poof of smoke*  
  
*Sensei appears*  
  
Sensei: Bad Cheeto. No happy for you, one year.  
  
Cheeto: *wails* *grovels some more*  
  
Sensei: Now tell them about vacation time.  
  
*Cheeto cries out in horror and curls into fetal position, sucking thumb and mutters inaudibly to self*  
  
Sensei: I apologize for Cheeto's unstable mental position and collapse into psychotic fit. Maybe later. But I will get rid of essentials:  
  
I no own it  
  
You no sue  
  
Give me one thousand American cheeses  
  
Or no happy for you, one year  
  
  
  
Next Chapter Number Something or other:  
  
They were on the road, or through the forest again. *A week of nothing but walking, this is going to be fun.* Yusuke thought as he climbed up a steep wooded field. It was slow going, having five humans and Botan, who wasn't human but walked about as fast as one.  
  
"Hopefully we'll get to the next town without much trouble." Miroku muttered as he reached the top of the hill. "I think I'll be able to get us a wagon."  
  
"I don't know about that." Inuyasha said, cradling Kagome on his back as she was still too weak to walk. "We'll get to the mountains soon, so a wagon would be worthless."  
  
A town came into view, but the group just ignored it and continued on at a grueling pace, headed for the mountain Koenma spoke of.  
  
"Are we there yet?" Yusuke whined, but everyone ignored him. After another hour, they saw small houses in the distance, but it was sunset before they reached it.  
  
They strode into the town, surprised at what they saw. It seemed like was running about, panic thick in the air. Inuyasha grabbed a random woman's arm and pulled her in front of him.  
  
"What's going on?" Inuyasha demanded and she shook her head and tore away from him.  
  
"We must ready the sacrifice!" They looked at each other and shrugged. Hiei noticed a small covered cage and strode over to it, raising the cloth over it with the tip of his katana. A small cat demon, whimpering slightly. Kilala looked at it with pity in her eyes and Kurama sighed. He himself knew what it was like to be in a cage, and it was not very fun.  
  
"This is their sacrifice?" said Hiei, voice dripping with disgust.  
  
"Looks like my cat . ." Kuwabara murmured sadly as he turned away from the poor creature.  
  
"Get away from the sacrifice!" A man screeched, running forward and snatching the cage while casting them the evil eye. He ran over to a group of men, whispering angrily, turning back to glare at them a few times.  
  
  
  
"Freak." Inuyasha muttered, "Lets get out of here and find an Inn." They wandered about the small town until they found a suitable place to stay, and let Miroku do his work  
  
When they settled in a maidservant entered, putting new linens into a closet near them.  
  
"Woman," Hiei demanded, "ell us more about this 'sacrifice' everyone is going on about."  
  
She smiled lightly and tucked a strand of raven black hair behind her ear. "To ensure a good harvest, every year we sacrifice a small demon to our harvest god at the new moon. Tomorrow night is the new moon, so we must ready the sacrifice in time."  
  
"This sounds familiar." Miroku muttered and Kagome nodded.  
  
"Trends go around here quickly, don't they?" The woman bowed and gathered the rest of the sheets, then took her leave.  
  
"As long as no baka humans bother us." Hiei muttered and sat on one of the beds. A few moments later a few women arrived with trays toppled with food, then left silently, eyeing them suspiciously.  
  
"I don't know, something about this place doesn't seem right." Yusuke muttered, glancing around. Suddenly, small metal balls burst through the paper covered windows, pumping out pink gas.  
  
"What the hell?!" Yusuke yelled, flinging an arm over his mouth. But it was too late, his eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the ground. The others followed, coughing and choking as they dropped one by one in the gas filled room. Sango tried to reach for her mask, but it dropped from her fingers and to the floor as she collapsed.  
  
Hiei's knees buckled as he reached feebly for the door. *Dammit. How could I fall . . .for something as . ..stupid . . .as . . .this . .*  
  
***  
  
Miroku groaned as his eyes slid open. *Where am I?* He sat up, then regretted it dearly as he felt as if his head where being split open by a ridiculously large hammer. *What happened?* He wracked his brain for what he could remember.  
  
*Well . .there was a sacrifice and a hotel . . .and a good looking maid . . . and gas?!* Everything came rushing back to him.  
  
"Sango?" he yelled, looking around desperately, spotting her unconcious figure a few feet away. Everyone was there except. . . he was shocked at how many of them were missing. Inuyasha, Shippo, Hiei, Kurama, Botan, even Kilala where all gone!  
  
He struggled to his feet, looking around. They were in a grassy plain, no town in sight but the mountain sure as hell was closer! Miroku didn't have time to regoise as he was too concerned about the others.  
  
"Sango, wake up!" he said, shaking her. Her eyes opened and she sat up slowly, wincing at the pain that assaulted her head..  
  
"Hurry, wake the others." They went around quickly, Miroku going to Kagome and Sango shaking Yusuke, soon everyone was more or less conscious.  
  
"Five more minutes Shizuru." Kuwabara muttered and rolled over, drawing snickers from the others. Yusuke leaned close to Kuwabara's ear, whispering.  
  
"Kuwabara, Yukina's here." The red head sprung up, arms wide open.  
  
"Yukina?! Where are you? It's your Kazuma-bear!" He looked around quizzically as Yusuke rolled on the ground in laughter, the others suppressing fits of giggles.  
  
"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled and was about to try and pummel the boy when Sango stopped them.  
  
'Now children."  
  
"Hey, were are the others?" Kagome said, wondering why there was no lets-insult-the-baka- Hiei statement that they had grown so accustomed to. Then she remembered what happened and the wheels began to turn. *Wait, everyone that's missing is a demon. Well, Botan's a spirit but . .*  
  
"Guys." she muttered, her voice shaking. "You don't think those villagers took them as sacrifices, do you?"  
  
"I don't know." Miroku said, but truthfully his mind screamed in the affirmative.  
  
"Hey, look!" Kuwabara yelled happily and pointed towards the mountains, jumping in glee at what everyone had already noticed. "They're closer!"  
  
Yusuke rolled his eyes, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."  
  
"What'd you say Urameshi?!"  
  
"Who knows where the others are." Miroku muttered, "They could be miles away from here."  
  
"Don't worry Miroku." Kagome counseled, "The guys are smart, they'll figure out where we are." she pondered on her statement for a moment, "Well, at least Kurama's smart."  
  
  
  
"What are we waiting for?!" Kuwabara said, breaking out of his newest pointless argument with Yusuke. "Let's go get Yukina!"  
  
***  
  
Inuyasha opened his eyes groggily and looked around. He was sitting cross-legged in a strange, dark place he didn't recognize. Wherever it was, it was bumping around a lot. They went over a particularly large bump and Inuyasha jumped, banging his head into the ceiling a few inches above him.  
  
"OW!" Well, at least that jolt cleared his head a little. He looked around again, this time his vision clearer. He was in a dark, confining area, somewhat like a box. It was then he realized that he was not the only one there. Shippo, Hiei, Kurama, Botan, and little Kilala all lay or were propped up against one of the walls. He now realized that this box was quite large, probably a covered wagon or cart.  
  
Inuyasha tried to move his hands, but realized they were tied behind his back, sacred wards covering the ropes that bound them. *Dammit, this whole place must be covered with them.*  
  
Kurama began to stir, opening his eyes and looking about, confused. He saw that Inuyasha, too, was awake. "Where are we?"  
  
"Not sure." Hiei awoke and realized that is headband had been removed and a ward had been stuck over his Jagan. His face crinkled in annoyance while he looked at the others.  
  
"Apparently I will be no help in locating our position." Shippo and Botan also returned from their trip to dreamland as Kilala stood, little Shippo letting out a small whimper.  
  
"Where are we? What happened?" Kurama smiled lightly and motioned to the young kit, who scooted over to Kurama and into his lap, his large brown eyes shining with fear.  
  
"Yes, I fear I must ask the same question." Botan said, looking about.  
  
"I can fill you in." a voice said, a small slot opening to what was apparently the front of the wagon. "We were going top sacrifice that measly little cat demon to the harvest god, but then we decided he would be must more please to receive these many, strong demons. Our harvest will surely be more plentiful than previous years."  
  
Rage erupted inside of Hiei as he tried to lash out with his Ki, but instead received an acid like pain tearing through his brain. He gasped harshly and grunted in pain.  
  
"Hiei . ." Botan cried, concerned, but dismissed the worry with a glare.  
  
"Don't even try to use your powers." Another voice hissed. "Those sacred wards lock up all of your energy, so it is very painful if you try to access it, as you have seen." He turned to Botan.  
  
"We frankly don't know what you are, but you aren't human and that's good enough for us.." Botan frowned and stuck out her tongue as the panel slid closed.  
  
"Well, how are we going to get out of here?" Inuyasha muttered, "So far it looks like we're going to be harvest god chow."  
  
"Botan." Kurama looked at the girl. "Can you work your binds free?" She struggled for a moment, then sighed.  
  
"I don't know Kurama, they're awfully tight." he cursed and looked at Kilala.  
  
"Can you tear off Botan's binds?" The little cat whined and stood, stumbling over to Botan and beginning to gnaw at the ropes that bound her wrists.  
  
"Hey, how come Botan? Why don't you have Kilala come over and undo my binds?!" Inuyasha demanded. Kurama sighed and spoke as if he were talking to a child.  
  
"Because, Inuyasha, Botan is the only one here that is not a demon. She is the only one that would be able to undo everyone else's binds."  
  
"Listen here smartass–" He was cutoff when the cart jolted to a stop.  
  
"That can't be good."  
  
"Got 'em!" Botan exclaimed, pulling her wrists apart as limp rope fell from them, but was interrupted when the back of the cart opened and the whole thing tipped back, spilling the demons and ferry girl out.  
  
They fell. A huge crevice was beneath them , going down at least a hundred feet, sharp jagged rocks erupting from the sand colored walls. Botan immediately called upon her oar, jumping on it and diving after the others, desperate for a way to help.  
  
"Botan!" Kurama yelled, "Take off the ward!" she assumed he was speaking of the one around his wrists.  
  
"Kurama, I–"   
  
"Just do it!" She reached towards it and her fingers brushed the paper lightly; it was just out of reach! She dove forward and grabbed the ward, tearing it off.  
  
Kurama whipped his head to the side, a single seed flying from his hair and back behind them. The seed sprung to life, bright green vines shooting out to launch onto the canyon walls and racing for the falling figures.  
  
It grabbed them all, hooking around various limbs to halt the demons in their paths. A vine shot out and grabbed Inuyasha's foot, catching him inches before his face would have met the ground. The dog demon's eyes got wide and he yelped, seeming to want to put distance between him and the rocky canyon floor.  
  
"Let's never do that again." Shippo mumbled as he fell over dizzily, still tied, as were the others. Botan went around, carefully removing the wards. The it came to removing the paper from Hiei's eye. She gently picked off a corner and winced.  
  
"This is going to hurt." *RRIIIPP*  
  
"Ow, god damn it woman!"  
  
"Oh, don't be such a baby, it's no more than an overly large band aid."  
  
"On my EYE?!" Botan sweat-dropped, balling up the paper and tossing it over her shoulder.  
  
"Where are we now?" Inuyasha grumbled as he drew his infamous sword. A loud rumbling was heard and they all spun around.  
  
"I'm guessing that would be the harvest god."  
  
***  
  
"Uh, how long have we been walking?" Yusuke moaned and Sango rolled her eyes.  
  
"Is that all you ever do, complain?"  
  
"Well sorry if I'm not used to the whole Indiana Jones Robinson Crusoe 'Living off the land' theory."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Will you two stop bickering?!" Miroku yelled, "You're giving me a headache!" They all trudged in silence for a bit until they spotted smoke curling over the next hilltop.  
  
"Civilization!" Kuwabara and Yusuke yelled, high-fiving each other.  
  
"For once, I agree." Sango muttered as they headed over to the town. Kagome's thoughts were elsewhere. *Oh, Inuyasha, I hope you're alright . .*   
  
In the meantime, Cheeto had been dragged off to your local insane asylum.  
  
Cheeto: *Rocking back in forth while talking to imaginary friends and other schizophrenic personalities.*  
  
Sensei: Cheeto had to borrow friends computing device for update. Who knows when next will be.  
  
Cheeto:I want a cookie! *cries between paranoid fits of biting nails*  
  
Sesei: No cookie for Cheeto, one year!  
  
Cheeto:The evil penguin minions of Bob will get you! MWAHAHA!  
  
Sensei: Vivian  
  
*Cheeto screams uncontrollably and returns to fetal position.*  
  
*Sensei shoots Cheeto with elephant tranquilizer.*  
  
Sensei: Cheeto thanks for the patience. Leave reviews, or no happy for you! 


	10. No ulterior motives

Yay! I can update, I so happy! Well, the reason I couldn't for so long was our computer was broke . .but now it's fixed! Yay!  
  
Sorry it took so long. Thank you angelfire3, for the cookie. *munches cookie*   
  
Sensei is happily locked in a closet. *Banging and muffled yells echo from hallway.* I'll let him out . . one day.   
  
So anyways, you can ignore any recent bad reviews because I told my friends, (against my better judgment) that I wrote a story and they like to make fun of me. *murderous look.*  
  
You know who you are.  
  
Anyways, thanks Jesscheaux for offering to e-mail me her story, (which I'm in, so go read it!) but my computer was broken, so I couldn't read it. But I now I can! And I did! And it was so funny!!  
  
But thank you everyone who was understanding and didn't flame me, *cries*. I feel so loved!  
  
Except for you people.  
  
You know who you are.  
  
But anyways, who want's to know about my vacation? *cricket cricket* Okay, I'll give a quick summary:  
  
MyevilcousinVivianannoyedthehelloutofmeandIwasverytemptedtokillheronmanyoccasionsandmyauntthat  
  
cantdealwiththefactthatIhavenosetreligionboutmeJustlikeJesusbooksandmytubbyauntbitchedandbitcheduntilthecows(mainlyher)camehome.  
  
*Gasp*  
  
AndthatlittlewenchlookedovermyshoulderandreadpartofmystoryandIcouldhaveMURDEREDHERINHER SLEEPANDSHOVEDHERUNDERTHEFLOORBOARDS.  
  
*GASP*  
  
And our neighbor didn't even water the lawn.  
  
Bastard.  
  
Anyways, on to the next chapter!  
  
Chapter . .Um . . I think it's ten or eleven ^-^;  
  
"What the hell kind of Harvest God is that?!" Inuyasha demanded. Indeed, harvest would imply plants, grain, wheat, something remotely related to harvest, but the thing in front of them was nothing but a big rock.  
  
"I was bored with rock monsters with Genbu." Kurama said as the thing roared. "But this, if possible, seems stupider." It was huge, sand colored boulders linked together by some unknown force. It roared again and slammed its huge fist into the ground, shockwaves shooting up a wave of rocks toward the demons.  
  
Jumping aside, they easily dodged, Inuyasha drawing Tetsusiaga. "Let me take care of this one." He charged the monster with a cry, but suddenly it disappeared.  
  
"What?!" It appeared behind him, slamming down his linked fists toward the dog demons back. Inuyasha swivelled in the air to try and face it, but instead the blow connected with his side, sending the demon plowing into the dirt. As soon as he slowed to a stop, Inuyasha jumped to his feet and sprinted, charging the beast once again.  
  
"His strategy is horrendous." Inuyasha brought his sword around once again, slicing the thing in half. Blood sprayed everywhere, the rocks falling to the ground. A huge lizard looking man, or at least duel pieces of him, slid to the ground, dead. Inuyasha landed, looking at the bloody blade in surprise.  
  
"Seems to work." Kurama smirked, the two demons coming closer, examining the body. "It covered itself in boulders for protection." Botan floated down from the safety of the sky with Shippo in her arms, jumping off the oar and placing the little fox on the ground.  
  
"Inuyasha, are you injured?" She asked.  
  
"I'll live." Hiei was busy surveying the area, his jagan glowing as it searched for other enemies.  
  
"How are we going to get out of here?" Shippo asked, looking around at the huge rock walls that surrounded them.  
  
"Oh, it won't be that hard." Botan smiled as she jumped on her oar once again. Kurama gently picked up the little fox and placed him on his shoulder. Kicking off, he quickly followed the others as they swiftly scaled the canyon wall by jumping from one jagged outcropping to the next until they were on level ground.  
  
"Where are we now?" Botan wondered aloud, looking around expectantly, for either people or a town. But neither was in sight.  
  
"We should be close to that town, since we killed their 'harvest god'."  
  
"We had to travel for some time to get here, so maybe not." Kurama muttered as he eyed the alien surroundings warily.  
  
"So it's safe to say we're in the middle of nowhere." Inuyasha grumbled, slinging his sword over his shoulder. "At least we don't have any humans to slow us down."  
  
"We still have bubble head." Hiei said, glaring at Botan with all three eyes, fingering his katana. She swallowed hard and forced a smile, backing up a step.  
  
"No need for violence," she giggled nervously. "Before I didn't want to leave the girls behind, but I'll be just fine on my oar, thanks." Hopping onto her oar, she hovered a few feet off the ground.  
  
"Well now that's settled." Kurama said, "Might as well get going."  
  
***  
  
Yusuke looked around, it was getting dark, must be around seven or eight in normal time. Owls hooted and crickets chirped as they trampled not-so-gracefully in the dense forest. *That's all this place is made of.* Yusuke thought, annoyance running thick as he pushed a branch out of his face. *Trees, trees, trees!*   
  
In response, a branch whipped around and smacked him in the face.  
  
"Arg, stupid tree!"  
  
"Yusuke, A tree is an inanimate object, it can't be stupid."  
  
"Yeah, well, who asked you?" The monk smirked as he pushed aside a branch with his staff, revealing even denser forest. Thunder cracked overhead and it began to rain, heavily.  
  
"Oh man, this sucks!" Yusuke yelled, Kuwabara nodding in glum agreement. "You said it."  
  
Finally, after they had cleared some of the dense forest, they heard a scream echoing through the still blackness of the night. The group took off towards the shriek, bursting through the line of trees to see a village.  
  
"Oh my God." Kagome murmured. Fires dotted the entire compound, cries rising from the area.  
  
"Let's go!" Sango yelled, pulling her boomerang off her back as they sprinted for the place. They ran through the front gates, as a wooden wall surrounded the town. They gasped in shock of what they saw.  
  
The ground was littered with human bodies, most dismembered. Blood stained the ground a permanent scarlet, various buildings in shackles or aflame.  
  
A huge bird stood in the center of the town, ripping out the stomach of a dying man. It pulled out his intestines and flung them up into the air, catching the pink mass and gobbling it up greedily. It's large red eyes turned to the new group and screeched at them angrily, opening its wings and flapping into the air.  
  
Flames leapt from its feathers, setting even more debris ablaze. It hovered in the air and shrieked, blasting an explosion of fire in their direction. They ran aside as the flames engulfed their entrance, and exit.  
  
"Holy shit, that things made of fire!" Yusuke gasped. The bird cried out and swooped down, huge talons plowing in the dirt where Miroku and Sango had been moments before. The fire was doubling quickly, fueled be plenty of oxygen and human corpses, the acrid smell of human flesh filling the air.  
  
"Sorry, but we're in a hurry!" Sango yelled and the huge boomerang, sending it cutting through the air.  
  
The two bloody chunks that had once been the demon fell to the ground with a disgusting splat.  
  
"Ew." The exterminator caught the boomerang, then dropped it, stamping out the flaming weapon.  
  
"Uh, problem." Yusuke yelled as he looked around. The entire area was engulfed in flames, no openings to be seen. Buildings collapsed as they were submerged in the inferno, the blaze eating up everything in its path. Flames were close, licking their feet and legs greedily, waiting for them to make a wrong move so it could claim them.  
  
Kuwabara pulled a sleeve over his face, struggling for breath. It was getting much more difficult to breathe, black smoke thick in the air, making seeing next to impossible. Sango coughed and gasped as the group fumbled for an exit, feeling her knees beginning to give way under the intense heat.  
  
"There's no way out." Miroku murmured weakly. His skin hurt, every inch of it was turning bright pink and beginning to peel lightly.  
  
"I'm not dying in some fricken barbeque!" Yusuke yelled, slamming his shoulder into one of the walls to try and get it to give way. Even though it was weakened by the fire, it seemed to hold. He yelled in anger and kicked it.  
  
"Screw this!" He pulled his finger forward. "Spirit Gun!" The bright blue energy tore through the wall, putting out many flames with its immense force.  
  
*Why didn't I think of that before?!* They ran out of the fiery town, gasping in relief as it began to collapse.  
  
"Where's Sango?!" Kagome yelled hysterically, searching for the girl.  
  
"She's still in there!" Miroku cried and ran to get her, but Kuwabara beat him to it. He dove into the village, searching for the girl.  
  
Kuwabara groped blindly for Sango, calling her name desperately. It was impossible to see, the smoke was so thick, almost no oxygen left in the entire area. The surroundings began to spin as Kuwabara became dizzy from oxygen loss, gasping as he fell to his knees.  
  
A gentle moan rang out near him and he crawled to it, finally finding Sango's limp form. He picked her up just in time to see their exit collapse.  
  
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke screamed as most of the wall collapsed, Miroku grabbing his staff.  
  
"I'm going in after them!"  
  
"No, we can't risk losing you too!" Kagome wailed but Miroku ignored her, running towards the blazing remains of a town. He stopped when he saw to figures emerge, one carrying the other.  
  
Kuwabara nearly dropped Sango as Miroku took her and he fell to the ground, the face of his sister appearing in his mind.  
  
*Your shirts on fire you idiot!"imaginary Shizuru screamed, *stop drop and roll! Roll you BAKA!*  
  
*My shirts on fire?!* He rolled like a maniac until Yusuke nearly had to smack him to make his stop.  
  
"You aren't on fire, Kuwabara, stop rolling around!" he stopped and sat up angrily. "Shut up Urameshi!"  
  
"How's Sango?" Kagome demanded from Miroku, who was patting out a small fire on her shoulder.  
  
"She's got some bad burns, but she'll be alright."  
  
"Let's get out of here." Yusuke said, "This fire's gonna spread and I want to be far away when it does."  
  
Later that night, when they were far away from the village, Sango sat away from the others, struggling to apply herbs and bandage her burns, as her hands were badly burnt and didn't function well.  
  
Miroku came up, bandages in his hand. He sat down across from her. "Do you need some help.  
  
She eyed his suspiciously, judging the situation. "No ulterior motives?"  
  
He raised a hand, smiling sincerely. "No ulterior motives." She sighed and nodded. He reached forward and took her hand in his, gently smoothing the herbs over her burned skin, and began to wrap them with the utmost care.  
  
Sango watched him, surprised at how caring he was being, but was still uncertain. He moved over to her other hand, doing the same, being just as gentle.  
  
"Now I noticed you had a few on your chest, so if you would take of your shirt . ."  
  
*BAM!* She punched the monk in the head.  
  
"Ow! What was that for?!"  
  
"What kind of monk are you?! THAT is an ulterior motive you-"  
  
"My intentions were purely innocent and for your benefit!"  
  
"My benefit?! Get back here!"  
  
***  
  
Hiei, Inuyasha, and Kurama swiftly sprinted through field upon field, making incredible time. Shippo had to cling to Kurama's neck for dear life as the fox sprang about, the demons going at least four times faster than normal humans. Kilala ran in great bounds next to them, panting in joy at the feeling of the wind rushing through her fur. Botan flew above them all, letting out a cry of delight as she wove through the puffy clouds.  
  
Like it was some sort of unannounced race, Inuyasha pulled ahead, smirking as he bounded from the top of the hill to the base, feet sinking into the soft dirt as he kicked off. Hiei rushed ahead of him, but Kurama jumped from one hilltop to the next, leaving them all in his dust.  
  
The sheer animalistic fun of the race overtook them all, a ghost of a smile on all of their faces. Inuyasha raced to the front with a burst of speed, but Hiei appeared next to him, smirking.  
  
"Don't trip." Faster than the dog demon could see, Hiei whipped out his katana and jabbed Inuyasha in the ankle with the hilt.  
  
"Ah!" He stumbled and fell, eating dirt as the Jaganshi raced ahead to take the lead.  
  
"YOU JERK!" Inuyasha yelled, then faltered, *Great, now I'm talking like Kagome.*  
  
"You guys!" Botan called down, "Look!" She landed a few hills ahead of them, the rest quickly catching up.  
  
She was pointing excitedly into the distance, clutching her oar happily. They all looked in the direction of her finger, their eyes widening. It was the mountain, maybe only a day away!   
  
Hiei smirked as he studied the hazy mountains. *So those villagers actually assisted us.* He thought it strange they had not been able to see them before, but it had been foggy most of the day. Shrugging, he looked back at the fields, making sure nothing was trying to sneak up on them.  
  
Shippo noticed that it was getting dark and yawned, Kurama pulling Shippo off his shoulder and holding him in his arms as the little kit began to fall asleep.  
  
Inuyasha's stomach growled noisily and he looked around. "I'm hungry."  
  
"Then why don't you get off your ass and got find something to eat." Hiei sneered, receiving a glare from the dog demon.  
  
"But Kagome has all the food." Shippo whined, curling up into a ball in the elder fox's arms.  
  
"Not true!" Botan chirped, pulling out a bag. "I've got instant ramen and nutrigrain bars . ."  
  
"Botan, where did you get that bag?" Kurama interrupted, puzzled. She looked at it and frowned.  
  
"I have no idea."  
  
***  
  
"I wonder if Inuyasha's okay." Kagome muttered, looking up at the black sky speckled with luminous stars. Stars were always brighter in this time, as there were no artificial lights to illuminate the sky. It made nights seem more peaceful, but also, more . . lonely . . .  
  
*What am I thinking?!* Kagome yelled to herself, It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything. EW! Why would I want him to be my boyfriend?!*  
  
"You talk about him like he's fragile or something." Yusuke said, coming over and sitting next to her in her secluded area away from the fire. "I'm sure he's fine. Why do you worry so much?"  
  
When she didn't answer, he continued. "Like Keiko. I'm not worried about her." He lied, "See, if that Ketsueki guy tried to hurt her, she'd pop him a good one. I should know." Kagome laughed as Yusuke rubbed his cheek in recollection of the many painful memories.  
  
"I don't know, it's just . ."  
  
"Chill out." He smiled, getting to his feet. "Come on, the others are probably wondering where we are."  
  
Kagome got to her feet, casting one last glance at the starry sky before heading back to the warmth of the fire.  
  
Woo! Kinda big chapter, eight whole pages! Yay! The next should be out soon.  
  
Unless some people make a comment.  
  
You know who you are.  
  
*Evil glare*  
  
But for anyone else *switch to happy mode* Feel free and totally obliged to leave reviews! Because you looovvveeeee Cheeto!  
  
Except for you people.  
  
You know who you are.  
  
I was thinking about a sequel. . .Trigun? . . .Rurouni Kenshin? . . Big o? . . Gundam Wing? . . Pokemon?! Or another one with Inuyasha? x-X  
  
Review! 


	11. Letting go of the Past

Cheeto: Okay, let's go over it again. *pulls out megaphone.* *Perky Cheerleaders appear*  
  
Cheeto: Do I own it?  
  
Cheerleaders: No!  
  
Cheeto: You gonna sue?  
  
Cheerleaders: Maybe!  
  
Cheeto: And what are you gonna get?  
  
Cheerleaders: NOTHING!! *Group jumps around . . .perkily.*  
  
Cheeto: *eye twitches at perkiness* *Shoots cheerleaders with mini Uzi.*  
  
BOOM!!!  
  
Cheeto: I feel better! Because remember, I'm a certified member of A.S.S. or, Anti-School-Spirit!!  
  
Subliminal Message: Go buy our hats.  
  
Ok, here are the results so far from the voting:  
  
Rurouni Kenshin: 3  
  
Inuyasha: 3  
  
Pokemon:1  
  
Gundam Wing: 1  
  
Trigun: 2  
  
Outlaw Star:1 (That's from my friend, the Kurama hater) *hissss* (you know who you are)  
  
Anti-Pokemon:1  
  
Ooh, the race is neck and neck, wonder who'll win. *rolls eyes sarcastically* Come on people! You do want a sequel, don't you?  
  
*cricket, cricket*  
  
Well I do! But I can't make up my mind! @ .@. But don't worry, thinking about a sequel will not take away anything from this story! This story . . .tis my masterpiece! *gushes*  
  
  
  
*~So onto the next Chapter, Chapter 11!~*  
  
  
  
Hiei's eyes snapped open and he shot up from his sleep, looking around. Something was wrong, very wrong.  
  
"Kitsune." he barked quietly, the fox's eyes opening lazily.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Wake the others, quickly." Kurama raised an eyebrow but complied, shaking little Shippo beside him. They both moved from person to person, waking them until Kurama got to the sleeping Botan.  
  
"Botan." Kurama said gently, shaking her, but she didn't stir. "Botan, wake up."  
  
"Lazy Onna." Hiei muttered as the fox frowned, placing a hand over her heart to make sure it was still beating. It was, a bit slower than normal, but nothing to be too concerned about. Kurama opened her eye, gently touching the raspberry colored iris, but gained no response from the young girl.  
  
"Something's wrong with Botan." Kurama muttered as he closed her eye, picking her up and gently cradling her in his arms.  
  
"Look!" Shippo pointed into the sky towards a green snake like demon clutching a glowing white orb. Hiei shot up and sliced it in half; grabbing the soul and bringing it down to the girl's limp body.  
  
"Is it hers?"  
  
"No." Kurama shook his head and stood.  
  
"What happened to her?" Shippo cried, looking up at Botan worriedly.  
  
"Her soul is missing." Hiei muttered and looked up into the sky, spotting more of the green demons floating through the skies, clutching the souls.  
  
*Those are the demons Kikyo uses . . .* Inuyasha's eyes widened as he sprang off into the forest, the others following close behind.  
  
***  
  
Sango had been staring up into the sky, unable to sleep, when she saw a snakelike demon weaving through the sky. Her eyes widened and she shook Miroku awake.  
  
"Miroku! Look, it's one of those soul gathering demons." The monk looked up sleepily, his eyes widening.  
  
"Get everyone else." After they were all awake, Sango prepared to kill the demon, but was stopped by the monk.  
  
"No, don't. It's one of Kikyo's demons-"  
  
"And wherever Kikyo is." Kagome said, cutting Miroku off, "Inuyasha's sure to be."  
  
***  
  
Inuyasha stopped in front of the huge barrier, daintily touching it. *Will she let me go through?* Surprisingly, he passed through without hindrance.  
  
Kurama came upon the barrier, frowning. "How is Inuyasha involved in this, exactly?"  
  
"Kikyo is Inuyasha's old girlfriend, and Kagome is her reincarnation, which is actually kinda strange because Kikyo is actually dead; Well not really dead but dead, 'cause she has to use dead women to sustain her body, which really isn't her body because she's dead, but not really . ." Shippo clutched his head, "Just thinking about it is giving me a headache!"  
  
Kurama nodded curtly, he had heard enough. Handing Botan's body over to the fire demon, he shielded his face with his arms and pressed through the barrier. Small shards of energy shot at him, slicing his skin as he forced his way through. With a small cry he broke through, the wall instantly swallowing the hole he had created.  
  
"Kitsune, what the hell?!" Hiei yelled, struggling to hold the girl's body, as she was about a foot taller than he. Hiei kept busy by engineering an array of curses to spout off at the fox when he returned.  
  
"Kikyo." Inuyasha murmured as he came upon her, surrounded by souls. It was like deja vu from a few months before.  
  
"Inuyasha, what do you want?" She demanded as the snakes surrounded her, releasing the souls to form a sort of aura around the girl.  
  
"Kikyo . . ." *Why is it, that whenever around her, I'm at a loss of words.*  
  
"Did you come to finally join me?" She whispered, looking at him coldly, "r will that girl appear and you try to destroy me?"  
  
"No, never Kikyo." Every time she was around him, he couldn't think straight; he was like clay to be molded in her beautiful hands. He shook his head, trying to comprehend the situation, but the mere sight of her was . . intoxicating.  
  
Return Botan's soul, woman."a voice rang out behind them, and the two turned to see a very pissed off Kurama, glowering at Kikyo.  
  
"Inuyasha, what is this?"  
  
"You stole a living woman's soul." Kurama growled, "Now return it." He flicked his wrist, the rose whip appearing instantly, "Or will I be forced to take it from you?"  
  
***  
  
Kagome ran ahead of the others, slipping through the barrier.  
  
"Yusuke, Kuwabara, stop! There's a–" Both slammed into the invisible wall, falling back with dazed expressions on their faces.  
  
"Barrier." Sango finished, sighing heavily as she shook her head.  
  
Kagome ran down the hill, spotting Inuyasha and Kikyo talking. *Great, they're probably going to start sucking face soon. Huh, Inuyasha that jerk!* She slipped back behind the bushes, watching intently.  
  
***  
  
Inuyasha stepped in front of Kurama, "No, Kurama, you don't understand-"  
  
"I understand the situation perfectly. You are allowing your senses to be clouded by this. ." He struggled for a word, "Thing. If it were any other adversary you would not hesitate to dispose of it." Kurama's eyes softened a bit.  
  
"Do not live in the past, Inuyasha. I have learned that lesson the hard way."  
  
"How sweet." Kikyo raised a hand, "But I must have these souls; you will not stand in my way!" A bright pink energy shot from her hand, Kurama just barely able to dodge from getting hit square in the chest, but instead his side was singed. His skin smoldered as he raised a hand to grasp it.  
  
"Bitch." Kurama raised a hand to use the rose whip, but Inuyasha stepped towards the fox.  
  
"Don't Kurama!" He hesitated for an instant.   
  
"Inuyasha, let her go! She doesn't belong here!" Kurama yelled as the whip lashed forward, but Inuyasha jumped in front of the attack, Kurama pulling the whip back just before it would have sliced the dog demon in half.  
  
"Inuyasha, if you do not step aside I will be forced to kill you. If I do not get Botan's soul back soon her body and spirit will die. Are you willing to sacrifice her for a wandering memory?"  
  
"Inuyasha, let me take care of this nuisance and we can live together forever, just like you said before. You would do anything for me, so just let me . ."  
  
Inuyasha stood, deaf to both parties. Thoughts darted through his mind, he had never been so confused. A girl's life, or a woman he had loved for as long as he could remember. How was he supposed to choose?! How could he?! Before . . .before Kagome . .he would have made the decision in an instant, but now . . .  
  
Inuyasha bit his lip and closed his eyes, suddenly very tiered, frustrated. Angry at her, for being so beautiful, so loving, so important to him. Angry at her, for a brief period fifty years ago, when she melted the ice incasing his heart, and that he could never forget.  
  
He looked at her now, not even truly living, not real, perfect face contorted in rage. It was her who tried to kill him, to bring them together forever. *I still love her! I still love her dammit!*  
  
An image of Kagome flashed through his mind, The girl who freed him, who was like her in nearly every way, except . . .*Dammit, why do I have to choose?! Why . . .* He looked at the woman he knew so well . .he thought he knew.  
  
*What happened to us Kikyo? What happened . .?* He turned to her, eyes defeated.  
  
"No, Kikyo." He shook his head, pausing for a moment. "The Kikyo I knew would never manipulate me, try and take advantage of me. She loved me, and I . .I loved her. You are just a lingering memory of her anger." He looked at her with dead, distant eyes.  
  
"The Kikyo I loved died fifty years ago. You are not her."  
  
"Inuyasha, how could you?!" She gasped, backing away.  
  
"Just give us back her soul, I don't want to hurt you." His bangs masked his eyes as a trembling hand reached for his sword, grasping the hilt weakly.  
  
"I-I thought you loved me." She gasped, tears coming to her dark eyes. "But after fifty years my love, it seems even that could not survive." She raised a hand, a single soul from the crowd gently floating towards Kurama, who grasped it gently.  
  
"Farewell Inuyasha." Kikyo murmured, tears spilling from her eyes, "We will not meet again."  
  
Inuyasha fell to his knees, still gripping the sword, a single tear sliding down his cheek as his eyes stared at the ground. *Yes, we will. I will destroy you.*  
  
"You made the right decision, my friend." Kurama said gently as he placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder.  
  
"What the hell do you know?" The dog demon demanded, scrubbing his eyes with his sleeve.  
  
"You would be surprised how much we are alike. Maybe some day I shall tell you the story of my old friend Kuronue."  
  
Inuyasha turned and looked at the fox, question in his eyes, Kurama reached out a hand and helped the demon to his feet, Kagome bursting through the woods, tears streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"Inuyasha!" She cried, running forward and jumping into his arms.  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha, I-I'm so sorry . ." she whispered, clutching him tighter. He held her gently, dazed expression on his face. Suddenly Kurama remembered Botan and took off to where Hiei was waiting, exceedingly irritated.  
  
"Give her to me." Hiei scowled and handed over the unconscious girl, who held her gently, raising the wriggling spirit to her lips. It gently slipped back into her body and she gasped, her eyes sliding open.  
  
"Kurama?" she whispered confusedly as he smiled lightly. She reached up and touched a cut on his face caused by the barrier, frowning.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Nothing, don't worry about it." he smiled, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes, "Now go back to sleep." She nodded and her eyes slid closed, slipping into unconsciousness once again. Hiei snorted at the kitsune's display of affection for the girl; he was definitely soft.  
  
"Is Botan going to be alright?" Shippo asked worriedly as he examined the girl fearfully.  
  
"She'll be fine as long as the kitsune's here to nurse her back to health." Hiei said sarcastically and rolled his eyes, drawing a smirk from the fox.  
  
"But why did she take Botan's soul? I thought Kikyo could only take the soul of dead women."  
  
"Botan has been temporarily given a human body to assist Yusuke, so she can go between the two. She isn't totally connected to her human body, much like a dead person." Kurama smiled at the little fox's blank expression, "It's complicated."  
  
Miroku, Sango, Yusuke, and Kuwabara all appeared, Kilala bounding into her owners arms.  
  
"I'm happy to see you too, Kilala." Inuyasha came closer, sighing heavily, a concerned Kagome watching him closely.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Kuwabara asked Miroku, who smiled sadly.  
  
"It's a long story." Kuwabara frowned.  
  
"Why am I always the last on to know about this stuff?" Hiei smirked at his opening.  
  
"Because if we told you, your thick head probably wouldn't comprehend it anyway so why waste our breath?"  
  
"Come here oompa loompa boy, I'll kick your ass!"  
  
The others sweat-dropped and walked on.  
  
***  
  
They had paused in a field when Shippo noticed everyone was burned somewhat. "What happened to you guys?"  
  
"Uh, we kinda had a bad run in with a fire demon." Kurama came towards the boy, seed in hand, who backed away.  
  
"I'm fine, Kuwabara has the worst burns." He turned to the carrot head, who scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Nah, they're fine, just a few on my back-"  
  
"And you put a shirt on over them?!" *This is going to be ugly*  
  
"Hn, baka." Hiei smirked, he was going to enjoy this. Kurama commanded the boy to sit down, grabbing the collar of his shirt from behind.  
  
"This will hurt." With that, he ripped of the boy's shirt.  
  
"YEOUCH!" he screamed, silencing the forest as Kurama examined the burns. Most of his back had evolved into blisters the size of half dollars, many which had popped or torn when the shirt came off, bleeding lightly or oozing thick white goo. The rest was peeling badly. Either sort of grayish or the color of a tomato.  
  
"That is really gross." Kagome breathed, pressing a finger to her lips.  
  
"That idiot should have known not to put fabric on fresh untreated burns. The two bond almost immediately." Hie snorted, Kuwabara angrily turning back to him.  
  
"Hey shut up! I'll come back there and-"   
  
"Yes, as if you could you overgrown vegetable."  
  
"Your gonna get it runt!" Yusuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Could you both just SHUT UP?!" The two fell silent, still glaring daggers at each other.  
  
"Thank you Yusuke." Kurama said, using a few of his herbs, he began to treat the burns.  
  
"AHH! AHH! It STINGS! AHH!" Kurama gently wrapped his entire back in gauze provided by Kagome's first aid kit.  
  
"How about you Sango?" She shook her head and smiled lightly.  
  
"No, mine are fine." They all looked from Miroku to Sango, the latter blushing and the first grinning. Everyone else raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. A brisk wind picked up and Yusuke shuddered.  
  
"Where did that come from?" Hiei frowned, looking up into the sky as gentle white tufts danced to the ground.  
  
"It's snowing!" Little Shippo cried happily as he and Kilala pranced around, catching the little droplets of frozen water on their tongues.  
  
"Shippo, you're going to catch a cold." Botan said as she reached for the little fox, but he just grinned and backed away.  
  
"Oh come on Botan, how many times have you seen it snow here?" Promptly, he flopped onto the ground and began to make a snow angel.  
  
"Yeah, I agree." Kuwabara chuckled, a hand shielded behind his back. "Heads up Urameshi!"  
  
"Huh?" Yusuke turned just in time to get knocked right in the face with a good old fashioned snowball.  
  
"Hey!" Yusuke yelled, reaching for a hand of the piled frozen flakes, rolling it and chucking it with one smooth motion, nailing Kuwabara in the mouth.  
  
"Your going to pay for that." Thus ensued the most ridiculous snowball fight of the entire Feudal era; Botan, Kagome, and Shippo all joining in. Soon they had all collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, forgetting the cold in the heat of battle.  
  
"If you children are done playing maybe we should get going." Hiei growled, Kurama smirking in response.  
  
"Come now Hiei, mustn't intrude on their playtime."  
  
"I hate babysitting."  
  
"Come on people!" Inuyasha grumbled, "Let's get going, I don't wanna have to sit here-" He was silenced with a snowball to the back of the head.  
  
"Who the hell?!" He glared at Kagome, who pointed at Shippo next to her, who pointed right back at Kagome.  
  
"Wasn't me!" He growled and stomped away angrily while the others slowly got to their feet. Hiei turned to Kurama.  
  
*Apparently these imbeciles haven't noticed that it's snowing in the middle of summer.*  
  
*Yes, apparently not.*  
  
WOO! Another chapter down! Yeah!   
  
As you all know, This is an Inuyasha/Kagome story, so any Kikyo fans out there, please don't flame me because I warned you at the start of this story!  
  
I personally think Kikyo is a sadistic psycho bitch, but that's just me. ^-^  
  
I hope I got that part all correct and stuff, I haven't seen IY ever since they took it off! (GRR! The evil minion penguins of Bob will get you, Cartoon Network!) So I may be incorrect on some things. I apologize.  
  
Sensei: Excuses, excuses.  
  
Cheeto: AH! How did you get out?! *attacks with various sized spoons* *shoves Sensei back into closet*  
  
Cheeto: STAY PUT!!  
  
Sensei: MmmHmmhmmm *muffled noises*  
  
Thank you sycogirl64 and Cloud 8.9 for the cookies *tears into bag* SUGAR HIGH!!  
  
But I have two requests of you, my wunnerful fans.  
  
#1- Please vote on the sequel, I'll love you forever!!  
  
#2- LETS GET TO 150!!! YEAH BABY!! And maybe, since you love me, 200? Pwease? *puppy dog eyes* I wanna feel special!! 


	12. Snow and more snow

I don't own anything. I never will. If I did, I would be a some Japanese guy, but I'm not.  
  
At least I don't think I am. ^-^;  
  
Ok people, we have a race! *Grabs calculator and other gambling stuff.* *speaking into mic*  
  
It's Rurouni Kenshin in the lead, with Inuyasha at a close second, followed by Trigun.   
  
  
  
And all the other people that don't matter.  
  
So all you RK fans, be happy! For all you other fans, vote! Or cry. Or both.  
  
Onto next chappie!!  
  
*~Chapter 12~*  
  
The light flurry of snow had evolved into a great blizzard, winds strong enough to uproot a tree. The snow was blinding, at least a foot and a half of the stuff blocking their path. The group trudged on, their faces shielded by their arms to ward off the flakes that stung their flesh it was so cold.   
  
Little Shippo was curled up in Kurama's arms, shivering as he pressed himself up against the elder fox for warmth. Inuyasha had lost all feeling in his bare feet, and he was sure that wasn't a good sign.  
  
"How are you holding up, Hiei?" Yusuke asked the fire demon. Hiei just glared at him, but it was obvious he was suffering from all the cold. Fire demons have a naturally higher temperature than humans; they could take small doses of cold and be fine (especially in the case of sweet snow) but anything other than that was dangerous, not to mention painful.  
  
  
  
Kilala was suffering the same, curled up in Sango's arms, whimpering softly. Neither of the fire demons had enough strength to try and burn a path for them, both were too concerned with staying conscious.  
  
The winds whipped about, slashing at them with temperatures that felt like they could tear the skin right off your bones. Yusuke flexed his fingers, trying to bring feeling back into them, but to no avail.  
  
They reached the lazy foothills of the mountain and trudged upward, praying that the side of the mountain would provide them some cover. Sighing in relief, they realized their prayers had been answered when the howling winds collapsed into a light breeze, gentle snowflakes wafting down.  
  
Now they walked in a somewhat lighter mood. Suddenly, it seemed like the wind pulled a one-eighty, barraging them from behind. Kilala was forced to change into her larger form, so not to be ripped from Sango's arms and into the sloping rock wall. She bowed her head away from the blinding fury of white, struggling to trudge through the snow.  
  
Kagome pressed on; her feet, hands, and legs screaming in protest of the cold. "We need to find cover for the night!" She screamed over the howling winds. The snow was nearing two feet deep now, making it nearly impossible to walk, but they kept moving.  
  
The group was well into the mountains when they spotted a small cave. Slowly they made their way towards it. The blaze of white thickened to where visual contact was impossible, so they were forced to fumble around blindly until Sango saw a break in the blizzard.  
  
"There!" She yelled, Kilala pressing onward, as the cat had seen how much her owner was suffering and offered a ride to her and the monk. The cat reached the cave first, almost collapsing inside as she struggled over to the far edge, followed by Botan on her oar. The ferry girl had suffered much trouble with the winds as she tried to get in, but was still faster then many.  
  
Hiei, Kurama, Inuyasha, and Kagome arrived next, followed closely by the two punks.  
  
"We have to get to the back of the cave." Miroku gasped, "So we'll be safe if the wind changes again." They all nodded and got to their numb feet, small groans of pain echoing through the darkness. They moved back, tripping over their own feet and various stalactites, as the cold had numbed their senses to beyond not caring about the rocky floor.  
  
They clambered around noisily in the damp darkness, not caring if anyone happened to be waiting for them at the end of the line. Finally they reached the stopping point and slid to the ground, shivering and panting. Hiei curled up into a ball on the floor. He had never been this cold in his life! It seemed to seep straight through your flesh and invade your core, wondering if you'd ever be warm again.  
  
"Hiei, could you-?" He raised a hand; a small flame shooting from his hand and igniting a plant everyone was huddled around, thankfully missing any pedestrians.  
  
Miroku tore off his sandal, yelping in pain. It had literally frozen to his foot, and in ripping it off had taken at least a layer of his skin with it. Yusuke held his hands over the fire, wincing when he realized he could smell his burning flesh, but couldn't feel the flames.  
  
"Urameshi, you crazy or something?!" Yelled Kuwabara, snatching his friend's hands away from the flames. "Believe me, you don't want Kurama to put that stuff on your burns, it stings like hell."  
  
  
  
The snowflakes began to melt on their clothes and hair, leaving them all wet and not happy. Kilala, now in kitten form, somewhat resembled a drowned rat.  
  
Inuyasha grumbled as he scooted his feet up to the fire. *I hate cold.* The ice that had somehow formed over his toes began to recede, exposing unnaturally pale flesh. 8Well at least it isn't black.*  
  
Kagome had been pulling off her shoes and socks, also scurrying closer to the fire. *What could cause such a drastic temperature change. . .I wonder, could it be a demon with a shard of the Shikon jewel?*  
  
The air in the cave began to warm up, and the group began to feel drowsy.  
  
"Don't go to sleep yet." Kurama warned, "If you get hypothermia, I'm afraid even I won't be able to save you."  
  
So they sat there for what seemed like an eternity, forcing their heavy eyes open until they could no longer, dropping one by one into a dead sleep. Hiei, surprisingly, was the last one awake. But after a bit he, too, fell into an exhausted slumber.  
  
A few hours later the fire demon's eyes slid open, wincing at the bright morning light, amplified by the reflection of the flawless layer of snow. On impulse he flexed his fingers and toes, silently rejoicing when none of them fell off.  
  
It was no longer snowing, the crisp white flakes covering the land and trees. The air was not freezing, as it had been before, but it wasn't anywhere near warm, as his breath still created a cloud as it escaped his body. Icicles hung from the outer edge of the cave, some spears long enough to rival Hiei's height, which really wasn't saying much. He was about to venture out into the blanketed land until the full veracity of the light hit him, blinding the fire demon for a moment. He stumbled back, an arm shielding his eyes, silently deciding to wait for the others to wake up.  
  
Slowly but surely they came back to life, and thankfully no major nor minor limbs became casualties of the storm. Worry overtook them when they saw the bright blue sky become invaded by clouds, but at least it wasn't so bright.  
  
Kurama stepped out into the snow. Well, more like sunk until he was thigh deep, which is a big deal since he is seven feet tall. Everyone else was up to their waists or higher, making the walk even more difficult than before. Luckily, Hiei was fast enough to just run over the snow without sinking in.  
  
"Hey, look at me!" Shippo yelled, dancing around on the top of the snow. The top layer had frozen, and Shippo was light enough to walk across the top.  
  
"Ahh!" Or not. He fell through, disappearing into the snow. Kurama reached down a hand and fished around for a moment before her pulled the little fox back from the snowy depths. Shippo grinned sheepishly as Kurama placed him on his shoulder.  
  
Botan decided not to try and wade through the snow and jumped on her oar, smiling apologetically at the others, who were glaring daggers at her.  
  
"Come on, lets get going."  
  
"This is ridiculous!" Inuyasha groaned as he pushed through the piles of freezing snow. His feet had been lucky once, and he wasn't exactly ready to try his luck again.  
  
"Inuyasha, don't yell." Kagome hissed, "You're gonna cause an avalanche!" All was silent for a bit except for the sound of snow being pushed aside.  
  
One hour later . . .  
  
"Uh, how much farther?" Kuwabara groaned, Sango looking back.  
  
"Well, in last hour, we've progressed . .about six feet."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Inuyasha, who was standing next to a tree, began to knock his head against the trunk repeatedly.  
  
"Hiei, can't you burn us a path?" The fire demon, who was sitting in the tree Inuyasha was bludgeoning himself with, smiled sadistically.  
  
"And miss your torture, I think not." And Kilala was still asleep.  
  
"Why you-" Kuwabara growled, pushing through the snow, "I'm gonna get you shrimp!" Then he tripped.  
  
"AHH! DAMMIT!" He yelled, pushing himself up.  
  
"KUWABARA, SHUT UP!" Yusuke yelled, "YOUR GONNA CAUSE AN AVALANCHE YOU IDIOT!" The mountain seemed to shudder, and they all whipped around. A wave of snow began to slide down the peak.  
  
"AVALANCHE!" Kagome screamed and turned, running as best she could across the field of snow. Or maybe running isn't the word. Luckily for her, Inuyasha ran up and wrapped an arm around her waist and took off, running across the layer of snow. Kilala finally woke and transformed, Sango jumping on her back, pulling the monk on with her.  
  
Yusuke and Kuwabara ran sluggishly, manga tears streaming down their faces. Kurama ran up and grabbed Yusuke's arm, pulling him along at lightning speed. Hiei, on the other hand, grabbed Kuwabara's collar and was dragging him along across the snow.  
  
Despite the demon's efforts, the snow was still gaining on them at a ridiculous speed.  
  
"Oh shiiiii-" Yusuke screamed as the white death overtook them all. It rolled violently down the mountain, throwing them about until it finally came to a stop near the foothills. For a few moments the land was still, a new layer of flawless glassy snow covered the mountains, no one in sight. All was silent.  
  
A clawed hand burst from the white, grabbing a handful of snow as a head emerged, gasping for air.  
  
"Kagome . ." Inuyasha murmured, pulling the girl from the crushing flakes. She was shivering and unconscious, but alive. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Yusuke and Kuwabara pop up. Kilala, too, emerged, Miroku and Sango draped over her back.  
  
"Now maybe if we could all shut up," Hiei snapped, "We could get somewhere, bakas!"  
  
"It was your fault!" Thus, another argument ensued. Everyone else sighed and got to their feet, face faulting when they saw those precious six feet they had claimed had been swept away, and about two hundred more added.  
  
Thankfully, Kilala had regained some of her powers and was able to assist them, burning a pathway.  
  
And so the trek continued, until they reached a pass in the mountain leading to a valley covered in snow, a frozen lake cutting across it. Strangely; the pass was clear of snow, even though it should have been the first to close up.  
  
They drew their weapons and passed through warily, eyes darting about.  
  
"What in the hell . .?" Yusuke murmured.  
  
"YUKINA!"  
  
Short chap, I know, but know you all know about the snow! And what's wrong with Yukina? And what will Kuwabara do? More importantly, what will Hiei do?!  
  
DUM DUM DUM!!  
  
And thank you everyone, for the reviews (it's been a while since I said thanks)^-^  
  
Review!! And Vote!!! 


	13. Interesting revelations

Hi-ya peeps! It took me a while to update because I just became a Squashmore and I have a lot more homework now . . *sigh*  
  
Oh, but I'm actually doing my homework!!!!  
  
*Sensei, who was standing behind, falls over in and dies of shock.*  
  
What 0.0?  
  
Oh, and wow, I got on today, and I had 10 new reviews!! WOW!! I thought the review flow was gonna get slower! Apparently not . . . ^-^  
  
Oh, and Sarah Lee1, Yusuke will go demon form. Be patient my friend! And while I'm on the subject, does Yusuke have any special powers while he's demon form? -_- I know nothing.  
  
And also, yes, I guess if it isn't the same two animes it isn't really a sequel . .but . .   
  
I just like the word sequel.  
  
Sequel.   
  
And Innuendo.  
  
Innuendo.   
  
And Moom.  
  
Moom.  
  
*Giggles*  
  
But yeah, I'm kinda strange, so on with the story!!!  
  
*~ Chapter 13~*  
  
"Yukina!" Kuwabara cried happily and ran forward. The ice apparition was standing in the middle of the snowy field, her hands suspended in air, the snow twisting around her in a sort of veil.  
  
"Stop, baka." Hiei hissed. "Something is wrong with her." It was true. Her normally sweet crimson eyes were pitch black and glowing.  
  
"What are you talking about shrimp?" Kuwabara demanded. "What's wrong with my Yukina?"  
  
"That's Yukina?" Sango wondered aloud, "But she doesn't look anything like-" Botan clapped her hand over the girl's mouth, laughing forcibly. Thankfully Hiei was too preoccupied to notice.  
  
*Is she possessed, Hiei?* Kurama asked as he drew his rose whip.  
  
*I can't contact her mentally.* he glared at the fox. *Don't you dare harm her kitsune, she's still my sister.* Kurama smirked, flicking his wrist. The thorns disappeared, leaving the bare vine.  
  
"I hate it when they do that." Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke as his eyes darted between the two having a silent conversation. The other boy nodded in agreement.  
  
"Ah, it is good to see you have finally made it here." A voice rang out. A tall man stepped out of the shadows, smirking. His hair was charcoal and swept over one white eye, both totally devoid of both iris and pupil. Black robes draped over his body, laces of dark energy dancing in the air around him. Every time he took a step, the grass under his feet wilted and browned, as if years had gone by in moments.  
  
"I just got a really creepy feeling. This guy is strong."Kuwabara muttered as Inuyasha smirked.  
  
"Yeah, well, that ain't gonna save him."  
  
"Tsk Tsk. You are forgetting about dear Yukina here." Ketsueki teased, swaying his finger mockingly. "Deal with her first, then maybe we can chat." With that, he flitted off faster than the eye could see.  
  
"How can we fight Yukina without hurting her?" Miroku murmured. The wind all of a sudden got stronger, a wave of ice spreading beneath their feet. The girl elevated her hands even higher, ice spears raining down on the group.  
  
Everyone ran out of the way, darting across the icy ground, struggling not to slip. Sadly this didn't work for Kuwabara, and he slid to the ground, an ice spear shooting down to pierce the ground between his legs.  
  
"AHH!" He yelped and scrambled to his feet. "Yukina, don't you recognize me?!" Her expression remained blank as she lowered her hands, ice spears shooting from them.  
  
*Yukina, can you hear me?* Hiei demanded as he sprang into the air, blocking the deadly ice shards with his katana. No response met him, only more ice.  
  
"Maybe I can tone down my spirit gun enough to stun her!" Yusuke yelled as they ran, sliding across the ice to avoid the fragments Yukina was pelting them with. Hiei shot the detective a death glare.  
  
"I swear detective, if you harm a hair on her head I will personally tear off your testicles and feed them to you." Yusuke's eyes widened and he stumbled, almost getting speared in the process.  
  
"What are we supposed to do?!" Miroku demanded as he sucked the ice into his wind tunnel.  
  
"How the hell am I supposed to know?!" Inuyasha yelled angrily, "We can't even touch her without getting neutered!"  
  
Sango cried out as she was hit in the leg and fell, leaving her defenseless. She cried out in pain as even more ice spears tore into her flesh, but suddenly the onslaught stopped. Looking up, she saw Kilala shielding her with her enormous body.  
  
"Kilala!" She cried and struggled to a kneel, wincing at the sharp pain that ripped through her. She knew the cat was weakened by all the cold, but refused to move out of the way of the ice. Refused to stop protecting her friend.  
  
"Stop!" Sango cried as the cat soon sank to her knees, Miroku started by Sango's cry. Anger masked his features, overshadowing his fear of Hiei and blinding his senses as he turned his wind tunnel on the girl.  
  
The wind began to suck the girl forward, and she turned him, a placid frown plastering her features.  
  
"I grow weary of you, monk." Her usually sweet voice hissed, and she lowered a hand to cup her chin, blowing lightly.  
  
A burst of freezing arctic air hurled at the monk, ripping him off his feet and hurling him into the rocky mountain wall. He cried out and slid to the ground, leaving a coating of crimson.  
  
"Miroku!" Sango cried and struggled to stand, but fell back down with a snarl of pain.  
  
Kurama lashed out with the bare rose whip, the vine wrapping around one of Yukina's arms. She frowned and touched it, a wave of ice racing up until it reached the fox's hand. He gasped and let go, examining his fingers. The ice was so cold it burned his skin.  
  
Sango, who had limped over to the unconscious monk, glared at the ice apparition in pure rage. Tearing out her katana, she forgot the pain she was in and raced for the girl.  
  
"DIE!" She yelled, jumping into the air and bringing the sword down for a killing strike. Yukina looked up with a savage grin on her face, and grabbed the blade.  
  
"What?!" Ice waves raced up the blade and over the girls skin as she tried to escape, freezing her solid; her face an expression of pure horror. Yukina threw her aside like she was paper-thin, sending the frozen girl crashing into a very surprised dog demon, who went crashing through the dirt.  
  
"Yukina!" Kuwabara yelled, running up to the girl. "Yukina, what's wrong with you my love?!"  
  
"Don't touch her you baka!" But the orange haired punk seemed to be deaf to his friends' warnings.  
  
Kuwabara grabbed hold of her shoulders, shaking her. "Yukina, snap out of it. It's me! Kazuma, your gummy bear honey dumpling! Listen to me-!"  
  
Her hands reached up and touched his face, blue waves spreading over his skin. Layer after layer poured over him, until he mirrored Sango, trapped in three-inch-thick ice. Yukina touched his chest, and pushed.  
  
"No!" Yusuke cried, knowing that if Kuwabara hit the ground he would shatter into an endless amount of pieces. And if that happened he didn't want to be around when he thawed.  
  
The boy ran forward and slid on his side across the layer of ice and snow, just barely catching the frozen Kuwabara before he hit the ground. He dragged the boy over to where Botan was helping Kagome with the injured Sango and Miroku.  
  
Suddenly, another burst of air was felt that sent the punk and deity flying back, and whipping Kagome up into the air, batting her around like a rag doll. Inuyasha saw this and grabbed Tetsusiaga, drawing it out in full.  
  
"Put her down you bitch." Suddenly Hiei was behind Inuyasha, his katana pressed against the dog demon's throat.  
  
"You insolent little shit. I should kill you for that, bastard-"  
  
"If we don't kill her, she's going to pick us off one by one!" Inuyasha spat angrily, causing Hiei to growl and press the sword deeper into Inuyasha's neck, drawing a trickle of blood. Suddenly Yusuke appeared, running full out.  
  
"Get down!" he pushed the two to the ground just before they would have been icicle pincushions. "Move or die, morons!" he screamed and took off.  
  
"I fear I must agree with Inuyasha." Kurama said as he threw a seed at Yukina, a plant sprouting, bright green vines constricting around her, forcing her arms to her sides. But soon a surge of ice halted the plant in its tracks, killing it instantly. The ice demon broke the vines like they were toothpicks, and raised her hands again.  
  
Kagome, who had been dropped the second Yukina's hands where bound, ran to make sure the others were okay. In assurance that they were, she turned to Inuyasha helplessly.  
  
*Be careful*  
  
"I will take care of this." Hiei hissed and sprinted off with a flash. *Maybe if I hit her with the flat of the blade . .*  
  
*No! I need to try and reach her again. If anything happens to her . .* He cursed himself and jumped into the air.  
  
*Yukina, can you hear me?* No answer.  
  
*Please Yukina, it's Hiei!*  
  
*Hiei . .please . .I can't control-* her voice was cut off with a strangled cry. The beloved face of his sister contorted in rage, aimed straight at him. She blew once again, an explosion of icy wind grabbing hold of him. It knocked him down to the ground, and straight for the frozen lake.  
  
"Hiei!" He crashed through the layer of ice and into the frigid waters.  
  
"No!" Yusuke cried and was about to go in after him, but was stopped by Kurama.  
  
"Don't. None of us can survive those temperatures." *No one except Yukina.* She flung more ice at them and they dodged, but not without a few more injuries. Yusuke stumbled, almost falling as an ice shard into his side. Apparently Yukina had inherited the same fighting abilities as her brother.  
  
*Hiei was able to contact Yukina for a few seconds.* Kurama thought, *Maybe . .*  
  
*Yukina, you have to listen to me! You have to save Hiei, he's going to die-* Kurama pleaded, but a new voice invaded his mind.  
  
No, Yukina, he's lying! Hiei killed your brother!  
  
*No!* Kurama cried, mind racing. Every second Hiei spent in that water was deadly in his weakened state. He couldn't! No . .Hiei would kill him! But Hiei would die if he didn't . . .  
  
*He . .He is your brother.*  
  
0.0.................................................................................................review! 


	14. Trials of friendship

I don't own anything. Oh how the fates are cruel!!  
  
Thanks everyone who reviewed, got some interesting feedback, but no flames!! YAY!! That makes me happy. Though I better put on my flame proof suit for this chap. ^-^u  
  
Oh yeah, if you like this next chap, you better go read Nightmares: Old Oaths by Sycogerl. ^-^. But if you don't, go read it anyway!!  
  
Anyways,   
  
Mr. m16- You really think so? *blushes like crazy*But I thought about what your saying, and this is what I think:  
  
. . This is hard to explain! X.X Okay, when I first saw Yu Yu Hakusho and the Yukina saga, I thought it was really strange. Hiei is a fire demon/part ice demon, and Yukina is an ice demon. Well in the core materials, fire can't stand water, and water can't stand fire. And ice is just a metamorphosis of water, right?  
  
So it always struck me as sort of a poetic justice that they spend their whole lives looking for each other, but, in essence, can't stand each other. ^-^  
  
And I never thought that a fire demon would be equipped to survive cold, as I assume they would originate from really hot place! Just like if we plopped Yukina in the Sahara desert, she would be a little Yukina-puddle. *I'd bet you like that, huh Jess?*  
  
And the only reason Hiei would be able to stand this much cold so far is because of the koorime blood he has. And I always thought it would be really cool to have them fight, you know? Because I figured they'd cancel each other out. But in my story Yukina has the upper hand.  
  
I donno, maybe I'm just ranting at something I'm totally wrong on (but I don't think the series really tells us about the hot/cold thing, do they?) But this is how I see it, and therefore how the story goes. ^-^  
  
Wow, I have ranted for way to long, so on with the story!  
  
  
  
Oh yeah, this is the evil person  
  
Ohh, your interested now, aint ya?  
  
*~Chapter 14~*  
  
  
  
Yukina's eyes widened, clearing instantly. "He's my brother?" *Why didn't I see it before?!* Racing over to the lake, she dove in after him.  
  
*Cold . .so cold. . .can't breathe . .* Hiei felt as if his lungs would collapse or explode soon. Cells were dying, his brain beginning to shut down from lack of oxygen, not to mention he had lost all feeling in his various limbs. Impulsively, he gasped, bringing the deadly water into his lungs.  
  
A hand reached out and grabbed him just before he slipped into darkness.  
  
Yukina wrapped an arm around Hiei's small, limp waist and dragged him to the surface, coughing and gasping as she emerged from the watery depths. She struggled with Hiei's weight, handing him up to Yusuke, who pulled him onto the grassy field. As soon as Yukina had gone after the fire demon all the ice and snow had receded, leaving the thaw but very confused Sango and Kuwabara.  
  
Yusuke examined Hiei as the others crowded around. He was deathly pale, black locks plastered to his face, his lips an unnatural blue color. Yukina pressed an ear to his chest, listening frantically for a heartbeat.  
  
"He's not breathing!" She cried, and Kagome pushed forward.  
  
"I know CPR!" she knelt next to Hiei, pinching his nose closed and pressing her lips against him, breathing air into his mouth. Pulling back, she began to press his chest.  
  
"One two three four five!" She said and repeated the process, pressing her ear to his chest.   
  
"It isn't working!" She yelled in exasperation. Kagome bent over and filled his lungs with air, thrusting arithmetically.  
  
No one noticed as a gray wisp slipped from Yukina's lips and into another member of the team.  
  
"One two three--" Hiei's back arched as he gasped, water bursting from his lips as he coughed and choked. Yukina gently eased him into her arms as he convulsed violently with hypothermia.  
  
Kagome saw something strange as she watched the koorime. A pink flashing.  
  
"Yukina!" she said, taking her hand, "there's Shikon shards in your hands!" Kagome was mentally slapping herself for not seeing it before while the ice maiden watched her quizzically.  
  
*So that's why she was so strong.* Inuyasha thought, then turned to the mountain. "Now where's the Ketsueki guy?"  
  
As if on cue, Kurama let out a sharp gasp and cradled his head.  
  
"Kurama, what's wrong?" He didn't answer for a moment, then looked at the others, eyes wide in horror.  
  
"Get out of here, get out of here now!" he yelled, backing away from them.  
  
"Kurama . . . " Kagome started to move toward the fox.  
  
"NOW!" Vines shot out of the ground and pushed them back, while huge trees suddenly shot up from the ground, forming a tight circle around him.  
  
"Kurama!" Inuyasha yelled, banging on one of the trees, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"  
  
"Why would Kurama . ." A cry of pain rang out from the enclosure and the trees disappeared, a huge burst of silver ki exploding outward. Yusuke blocked his face as the blinding energy washed over them all, tearing debris from the ground and flinging it back. Soon the energy retreated, lacing the air around the fox, cracking like lightning.  
  
"What the . . ?" Yusuke gasped as Kurama came forward, smirking deviously.  
  
"You should have listened to the fox, maybe some of you would have lived. It was Kurama's voice and body, but his eyes were glowing coal black. He raised a hand and examined it, smirking as he curled it into a fist.  
  
"As soon as I lay eyes on this body I knew I had to have it. I didn't expect such resistance, Yukina was much easier to control. That small burst that forced me out was unexpected, but it worked out all for the better." Kurama frowned, raising a hand a hand to his head.  
  
"Hn. Stupid Youko, trying to regain control. That is how you must keep the hosts obedient, with pain. Too bad it damages the body."  
  
"Who the hell are you?!" Yusuke demanded angrily, bringing a small laugh from the possessed fox.  
  
"You are not worthy enough to know my name, human, since I'm going to kill you without breaking a sweat."  
  
"Shut up!" Inuyasha growled. *How am I going to do this without hurting Kurama? Yukina regained control, but I doubt this thing is going to get distracted anytime soon.*  
  
"Botan, Kagome, Yukina." Kuwabara whispered loud enough for the girls to hear as he produced his spirit sword. "Get back, take everyone injured and Shippo."  
  
"Trying to protect the girls, how quaint." Kurama smirked, his ears twitching as he called upon the grass sword. "That won't save them for long. I see Kurama has some feeling for the blue haired one, so maybe I'll kill her first . . . " He gasped in pain and clutched his head as his whole body convulsed. Kurama snickered, looking at the frightened girl.  
  
"He must really like you, he almost got me that time. Oh well, I'll just kill you all one by one, make things more interesting." He said, rasing a hand as the grass sword enveloped it.  
  
Swinging the sword through the air, huge spears of bamboo shot up from the ground toward them. Yusuke and Kuwabara turned tail to avoid getting speared as Inuyasha flitted out of the way. He stopped for a moment just to have a close encounter with Kurama's sword.  
  
"Spirit Gun!" Yusuke yelled as the blue beam shot forward, hitting Kurama square in the chest, dirt billowing up in the air. When the dust cleared, possessed Kurama was laughing as he fingered the light burn mark.  
  
"Oh, Yusuke, you greatly underestimate the power of this fox, trying to stun me. Allow me to show you." He kicked off faster than the eye could see.  
  
"Where is he?!" Kuwabara yelled, searching the ground for any sign. Yusuke spotted something out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"Move!" Inuyasha jumped just as Kurama's sword came crashing down to bury in the ground. He swung his weapon around, succeeding in nicking the demon lightly in the chest. Kurama kicked off into the air, smirking.  
  
"Kuwabara, watch out!" Yusuke yelled and the punk jumped to the side, the rose whip tearing long gashes in his right arm, but at least it wasn't his chest.   
  
The fox smiled.This is going to be more fun than I thought.  
  
***  
  
Kurama lay curled up in a corner of his mind, cursing softly through his pain. No, this couldn't happen, no . . . Every time he tried to retaliate against this thing in his head it would trigger the pain nerves in his mind until he couldn't even think he was screaming so badly. Whatever this thing was it was tearing his mind apart.  
  
Your friends are tougher than I thought, this could take a bit longer than I expected. Kurama didn't answer.  
  
Oh, not interesting enough for you? Maybe I will go after that Botan girl . .  
  
*You wouldn't dare.* He snarled and the demon laughed, drawing a small cry of pain from the fox.  
  
I'm going to kill them by hand, one by one, so you can watch them die. I have seen your memories Youko, and that is what you fear the most. That you will be alone, either by betrayal or death.  
  
Their blood on your hands, their dead accusing eyes staring up at you, asking why you did this to them. . .  
  
*No.* Kurama whispered painfully as disturbing images flashed through his vision. His friends' mutilated carcasses, the ground stained crimson. Their eyes glazed, reflecting the last few seconds of fear they felt. Kurama tried to look away, but it was like a concrete nightmare, unable to change. Unable to ignore.  
  
Just like Kuronue.  
  
*NO!* He screamed, the memories of his friends death hurtling to him like bricks. No, it wouldn't happen again. Kurama reached forward and grabbed hold of the intruder, ignoring the mind numbing pain that met him.  
  
***  
  
Yusuke watched in horror as Kurama sank to his knees, clutching his head and crying out in pain. His eyes flickered from black to gold as they all watched him fight for control. He muttered angrily, though his words were inaudible. The others watched, not knowing who was winning, and didn't dare attack.  
  
"Yusuke." Kurama gasped, his eyes normal, voice hoarse with pain. "You've got to kill me . ."  
  
"Kurama-"  
  
"Do it now!" he yelled, he's going to kill you all-" He was cut off as a scream ripped from his throat, his hands clutching his head so hard his nails pierced his scalp, drawing blood.  
  
His eyes began to flicker again.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Stop fighting Youko, it only makes it more painful." his own voice taunted back at him.  
  
"Get out of my head . .Bastard . ."  
  
'It isn't nice to call names. You'll pay for that." Kurama cried out haggardly as black took control once again and got to his feet. He raised a hand, smirking.  
  
Huge vines shot out from the ground, twisting towards the boys. Yusuke and Inuyasha jumped out of the way, but Kuwabara was not so fast. Curling around the punk, the vines raised him into the air, constricting around the boy like dozens of snakes.  
  
"Stop it!" Yusuke yelled and ran for the fox, but was forced back by stabbing bamboo spears. Kurama laughed and began to tighten the vines around Kuwabara. The tips burrowed under his skin, blood spurting as white flowers blossomed from the wounds, then became tinted red as they drew more and more blood. One in particular cramped around his neck, cutting of his air supply.  
  
The two demons watched in absolute horror as Kuwabara tried to break free, trying to draw in air as his face became blueish and his eyes began to roll back.  
  
"Damn you!" Inuyasha yelled, jumping up and bringing his sword down onto the demon. One of the vines unwrapped from Kuwabara and swung around, batting Inuyasha aside like he was a fly. The demon slammed into a large oak tree, a loud crack resonating. He coughed as blood spurted from his mouth.  
  
"Spirit Gun!" Yusuke yelled, the beam cutting through the vines holding Kuwabara suspended. He fell to the ground, coughing as he tore the vines from his neck and from under his skin.  
  
"Bad move." New vines shot out at Yusuke, razor tips ripping towards him. He jumped out of the way, but didn't dodge them all. Three met their targets.  
  
Yusuke cried out in pain as the vines dug into his arm, chest, and knee, blood spraying from the wounds. Suddenly sharp barbs sprung from the ends and tore into his muscles as the vines retracted, taking chunks of skin with them. Yusuke looked down and felt sick when he saw the milky white of his knee cap.  
  
"Take this!" A feminine voice rang out behind them, and Kurama turned to come face to face with Sango's boomerang. It would have connected had a sudden bamboo steak not shoot up and stop it in its tracks. Kurama turned to the defiant Sango.  
  
"You are very annoying, woman." A rose stem curled up from the ground and around the girl, taking her by surprise as the thorns dug deep into her skin. It began to crush her in its powerful grip, then flung her into the rocky mountain wall. She hit with a loud smack and slid to the ground, unmoving.  
  
Kilala struggled to her feet and charged at Kurama, flames bursting from her mouth. Petals erupted around the fox, deflecting the onslaught of fire. Kilala stopped when she realized it wasn't working and bared her teeth, preparing to strike.  
  
The rose whip lashed out and wrapped around the cat. With one tug, it sent deep gashes through Kilala's skin and she howled in pain, changing to a kitten as she collapsed.  
  
"He's playing with us." Yusuke gasped as he tried to get to his feet. He had seen Youko call some of the most terrifying plants he had ever seen and demolish enemies with a single blow, and he could do the same with them. But he wasn't. He was taunting them, torturing them, drinking up every horrifying moment with the utmost of pleasures.  
  
It was all a game.  
  
The spirit detective raised his arm, index finger pointed. Right for the kitsune. *Damn I hope this isn't my last bullet.* He thought as he drew his energy into a small sphere.  
  
"Yusuke, Yusuke, Yusuke." A voice taunted overhead. He looked up to see Youko Kurama, the great spirit fox, grinning sadistically at him. Too late he realized that vines had crept up around him and they suddenly shot out, taking tight hold on his limbs as they forced him to his feet.  
  
"That right arm is beginning to be quite a bother. I suppose we shall have to get rid of it." The vine around his arm began to tighten.  
  
Yusuke bit his lip and turned his head away to try and ignore the pain, but with every breath the vine squeezed harder, until he felt his bone begin to crack. The detective screamed in pain as the fox's plant began to bend his arm backwards at the elbow slowly, mockingly.  
  
A sickening snap was heard and Yusuke cried out and slumped, gasping for air as sweat ran into his eyes.  
  
"What shall we break next? The other arm? A leg?" the possessed demon closed his eyes, all of Kurama's memories flashing before him like a movie. "Strong, loyal, selfless, all admirable qualities. Maybe I'll just snap your neck; a relatively painless death. You deserve that much."  
  
"This has to end." Inuyasha muttered as he staggered to his feet, wiping his chin. Sprinting off, he raced for the fox with a cry. Kurama smirked and raised his sword to block Inuyasha's, their faces inches apart as power cracked around the two.  
  
"You can still walk; I'm surprised."  
  
"It takes more than that to take me down." Kurama smirked and tore away, jumping into the air, closely followed by the dog demon. The two clashes with their blades at lightning speed. Both landed, raced off and sprang into the ground again.  
  
Inuyasha was above Kurama and he thrust the blade down, aiming for his shoulder.  
  
At the last second he saw the fox swerve.  
  
And the wind scar appeared.  
  
"No!" Inuyasha yelled, "Kurama, get . .!"  
  
The blade sliced into Kurama's chest and through the wind scar as the kitsune looked up at the dog demon with golden eyes.  
  
*Thank you . .*  
  
Those two words drifted through Inuyasha's mind as the blinding energy ripped through Kurama's body, silencing him.  
  
***  
  
I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!  
  
*Hangs self*  
  
*Sensei zips up flame proof suit* Review! 


	15. Shattered hopes

*Crawls out from under couch in camouflage. *  
  
Cheeto: No flames in sight!  
  
Little pile of soot that used to be Sensei: *cough cough* speak for yourself.   
  
*Cheeto creeps over to computer and puts a tree next to* HA! Now you can't see me!  
  
*Tree bursts into flames.*  
  
Cheeto: eep!  
  
Ok, first things first: I don't own anything. HAVEN'T I SAID IT ENOUGH FOR YOU PEOPLE?!  
  
Second things first: It's very nice to know that many of you care enough about Kurama and my story to flame the heck out of me!  
  
Third thing: I'm watching Grease. John Travolta is HOT!  
  
Fourth thing:  
  
Nah, you can figure it out.  
  
So here is the next chap:  
  
*~Chapter Fifteen~*  
  
  
  
Botan let out an earth shattering scream as the energy tore into Kurama, the sheer momentum sending him plowing into the dirt. He slid about twenty feet and stopped, unmoving.  
  
"Kurama!" Yusuke cried and tried to get to his feet, but fell back down with a sharp cry.  
  
Botan was frozen in her tracks, unable to go to the fallen fox. *I can't look.* she though, clutching her face as tears cascaded from her eyes. *Oh Kami, I can't look.*   
  
"Kurama!" Shippo cried, fighting to get out of Kagome's arm. "No! He can't be dead! No, let me go!" He hollered, Kagome holding him closer as she turned away, tears threatening to spill over.   
  
*I can't take another friend to the spirit world.* Her mind cried, somehow believing that if she didn't look, he wouldn't be dead. If she didn't look, she could keep denying it all. He would be alive.  
  
*But what if . .*  
  
*What if he isn't . . .?* Botan took a hesitant step toward her fallen friend, and broke into a run.  
  
*I can't bear to look*  
  
*But I have to know.*  
  
She stopped a few feet away.  
  
The kitsune was sprawled on his side, silver tresses masking his features. Blood pooled around his still figure, growing larger by the second.  
  
Blood.  
  
So much blood.  
  
Botan's eyes widened and she took another step forward.  
  
But . . .the dead . . .  
  
The dead don't bleed.  
  
  
  
"He's . .he's still alive." Though her voice came out almost in a whisper, the others could hear her as if she had been screaming. Kagome released Shippo in shock, and he bound for the elder fox on all fours.  
  
Botan quickly dropped down next to him. Pulling the fox into her arms, she rocked him gently as tears fell anew. His eyes were half lidded and glazed, blood sliding from his parted lips, his flesh deathly pale. A huge gash ran down his chest, almost cutting him in half.  
  
The single slash had split into five as the energy erupted from his back, shattered ribs jutting out from under the skin. Botan pressed a hand to the huge gash, her Ki flowing into the wound as blood surged up between her fingers.  
  
But she could feel it. His heart was still beating, but it was beginning to still beneath her hand.  
  
*No, I'm not trained to heal wounds like this.* The ferry girl was making little impact, but she had to keep trying. *I have to help him, even if it kills me!* But there was so much blood, too much. The life-giving liquid had already soaked through his clothes and was saturating hers, her hands already covered in crimson.  
  
"Hold on Kurama!" she cried, "Please, you have to . ." His breath came in haggard gasps as he coughed up blood, trying weakly to clear the substance as it filled his ruined lungs.  
  
"Is he going to be okay?!" Shippo cried as he ran up to the two. Botan tried to answer, but her voice caught in her throat. The blast had spared him an instant, painless death, but instead delivered him into fate's cruel hands. Now he was bleeding to death, drowning in it as it gushed from his body with each feeble beat of his devastated heart.  
  
Inuyasha, meanwhile, had landed a few feet away, watching the scene numbly. His sword, which had changed back on impact, dropped from his limp fingers.  
  
The grey wisp slid from Kurama's lips, headed straight for Inuyasha. Sudden rage blinded him. "You BASTARD!" he yelled, his nails glowing bright yellow. "Iron reaver!" The energy tore through the mist, demolishing it on impact.  
  
"Yukina, can you do anything?" Yusuke asked, his voice shaking. The ice apparition shook her head, small stones dropping to the ground as she clutched her brother tighter. "Botan's powers are as good as mine. I can't do anything she can't."  
  
"Wait!" Kagome yelped, turning to the girl. "Give me your hand." Puzzled, Yukina lifted a hand and held it out to her. Kagome pushed her nail under the ice demon's skin and removed the bright pink shard, standing up and sprinting to Botan.  
  
"Here!" Kagome said as she dropped down next to them. "Put this in his back." Botan looked up at her questionably.  
  
"It'll keep him alive." She nodded and took the shard, pressing it into the fox's back. He cried out in pain and shuddered, then stilled, relaxing from his painful tension. Botan felt his pulse steady and he began to breathe deeper as the blood flow slowed to a trickle.  
  
Botan looked up at the other girl, tears sliding down her cheeks, unable to express her gratitude. Kagome smiled and nodded, then turned to the dog demon.  
  
"Go get him, Inuyasha." He nodded and smirked.  
  
"Right." He strode over to the cursing detective and helped him to his feet, slinging one of the boys arms over his shoulder.  
  
"Can you walk?"  
  
"Come on, I've got a few holes in me and a broken arm. What do ya take me for, a wimp?" Inuyasha smirked and released him. Yusuke swayed for a moment and straightened, one hand clutching his limp arm as a rush of blood escaped the various puncture wounds.  
  
"KETSUEKI!" Yusuke roared. "Get down here and fight me you BASTARD!" Inuyasha drew his sword once again.  
  
"You aint fightin' without me, Urameshi." Kuwabara muttered as he stood and almost fell over. Yusuke turned back and smirked.  
  
"You fought enough, Kuwabara. Let me take care of this."  
  
"Yeah right!" The other punk yelled, "I want this guy just as bad as you do! And you can't even shoot your gun!" He called upon the double swords. "See, I got plenty of energy left; let the real team leader take care of this one!"  
  
Yusuke face faulted. "Right."  
  
"Sorry to break up this touching moment." Ketsueki said, "But I do believe you called me a bastard."  
  
"Yeah," Inuyasha spat, "He wasn't too far off mark."  
  
Ketsueki smirked. "Now, aren't we just graced with a spark of wit." He looked over to the fox, then to unconscious Hiei and his sister.  
  
"Anshin was a fool. Though, I at least expected him to kill the humans. Well, he got me out of that damned cell, I guess that's the point." He smiled comically. "But back to the original conversation, you seem to have forgotten one thing-" He disappeared, then reappeared a few feet away. A few seconds later, he was back in his original position.  
  
"I've got the girl." Yusuke's eyes widened.  
  
"Keiko." She was clutched against the demon, one of his hands holding hers behind her back, the other clasped over her mouth. She stared at Yusuke pleadingly, tears streaking down her face.  
  
"She's quite lovely." Ketsueki cooed, pressing his pale cheek against hers, turning his face sideways to kiss her cheek lightly. "I enjoyed her company very much. Though I think she may not return those feelings."  
  
"Get your hands off her." He hissed, his spirit energy beginning to appear in plain sight, licking his body like blue flames.  
  
"Oh, got you angry now, did I?" he looked at Inuyasha.  
  
"But I am curious to how you are involved in this, half-breed. What do you gain from killing me?"  
  
"Not much." He growled, "But guys that hide behind girls tend to piss me off." Ketsueki smiled.  
  
"Now, now. Who says there is a reason to hide? I could kill you so simply." He sighed exaggeratedly, "It's almost sad, actually."  
  
"Stop running your mouth and lets see it!" Kuwabara yelled, causing their opponent to grin harder.  
  
"Oh, only if you insist! But I have been waiting so long for you to show up . ." Frowning, he shook his head. "But I guess it would be rude for you not to allow me to make the first move. Must be sportsmen like, mustn't we?"  
  
"Shut up!" Kuwabara yelled, racing towards him. He cast Keiko aside and grinned.  
  
"What, can't understand the big words?" Kuwabara roared charged the demon, swords swinging like a maniac. Ketsueki faded back and vanished, reappearing behind the boy.  
  
"Missed." He murmured next to his ear, and vanished again.  
  
Yusuke ran up to Keiko, grabbing her with his one good arm. "You alright?!" She nodded, seeming to have gone into shock, unable to answer.  
  
"Your arm . ." she stuttered.  
  
"Nothing I can't handle. Now get over to Yukina and Botan." When she didn't move, he dragged her to her feet. "Now! Go!" She nodded and ran off, Yusuke letting out a sigh of relief.  
  
  
  
*At least she's safe.*  
  
Kuwabara swung wildly at the time apparition faded in and out of his vision. Kuwabara grinned, calculating his next move.  
  
"Ha!" he yelled and jumped into the air, bringing his swords down. Ketsueki grinned and his hand shot up, wrapping around Kuwabara's face.  
  
"You know, you remind me of a cockroach. You just won't seem to die." Ketsueki beamed, "I guess we shall have to fix that."  
  
  
  
Black waves began to wash over the struggling boy, and soon his swords disappeared. His hair faded into white, and his hands dropped down to his sides.  
  
"There. Not dead, but close enough." Ketsueki threw the boy back and he hit the ground hard, skidding back in his stomach. The punk grunted and struggled to get up.  
  
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled. His face was wrinkled as if fifty years had just gone by, liver spots dotting his skin and his receding hair line. He moaned and Ketsueki came up and kicked him in the stomach, sending the boy flying.  
  
"Old bones are always so fragile. Just one little kick, and 'snap'!" He smiled, "This power has such advantages, it's almost ridiculous that you could even think you could win against me!"  
  
"Kazuma!" Yukina cried, wanting to go to him, but not wanting to leave her brother.  
  
"Man, you are really starting to piss me off!" Inuyasha yelled and charged him, swinging his blade nearly as blindly as Kuwabara had been. "Girls, old people, what the hell kind of man are you?!"  
  
Ketsueki smiled, Inuyasha was having even less luck than Kuwabara. "Catch me if you can." Ketsueki said in a sing song voice.   
  
Yusuke watched in utter anger. *Dammit, I can't do anything! Kurama, er that thing possessing him, broke my trigger arm! I can't even fight! Only one thing to do . . .* He took the broken bone in his good hand, and began to bend it back.  
  
Inuyasha turned to look at the screaming Yusuke as he bent his arm back into place. "What the heck is wrong with you?!"  
  
"IT HURTS DAMMIT!" he yelled back, "Now concentrate on the fight you moron!" Inuyasha turned just to get nailed in the stomach. He flew back, sliding back a few feet through the dirt.  
  
"I have a feeling you aren't taking me seriously." Ketsueki grinned.  
  
"Maybe it's time to show you my true power." He raised his hands, black energy cackling around him as he swirled his hands in a circle.  
  
"Sands of . ."  
  
"SPIRIT GUN!" Yusuke yelled from behind the demon, a huge burst of blue energy shooting towards him. Ketsueki watched it in wonder as it burst through his chest.  
  
"Yes!" Yusuke yelled, wincing as pain jolted through his sloppily recast arm. "Direct hit!"  
  
Ketsueki looked through the huge hole in his stomach to a shocked Inuyasha behind him. He frowned.  
  
The wound disappeared.  
  
  
  
"What?!" Yusuke cried, backing away. How did he-?!  
  
"You really think I'd be killed that easily, Yusuke." His voice had lost its sarcastic mirth, and now his eyes where glowing black. "How dare you mock me. Time heals all wounds Yusuke, remember that."  
  
Black energy burst from his body, enveloping the land. "Sands of time!"  
  
Cheeto: ooh, cliffe!! Oh, and just to let you know, Anshin is the Japanese word for 'peace of mind.' Kind of an oxymoron, ne?  
  
Sensei: Emphasis on the 'moron.'  
  
Cheeto: Shut up!! *kicks* Anyways, aren't you happy Kurama is alive? I mean, ok, I'm evil, but I'm not THAT evil!  
  
Sensei: *cough* Liar *cough*  
  
Cheeto: yeah, your right, I'm going to make him die in another one of my stories! ^-^  
  
Sensei: x.X  
  
Cheeto: Almost forgot:  
  
TWO HUNDRED!!!!! OMG!!!! OMG!!!!! OMG!!!!!  
  
*Dies*  
  
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS!!!!!!   
  
THANK YOU!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! WEEEEEE!!!  
  
  
  
*happy dances self to death*  
  
Sensei: x.x Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	16. Through the darkness

Hey, guess what? Inuyasha is on!!!  
  
But you know what, the first couple of episodes were major sappy. *gags* But now they're okay. 'Specially with Inuyasha goin all evil and stuff. ^-^  
  
But anyways, I don't own anything. -_-u I would have figured I'd said it enough, but some people . . . . *sigh*  
  
Oh guess what else!!!!! It's the Nightmare before Christmas's 10 year anniversary!!  
  
Its so cool! I got the special edition DVD and a t-shirt with Sally and Jack. I wanted to get a little zero headband but my sis said it made me look like a dork.  
  
-_- I'm spending so much money. I have to get the new NickleBack CD when it comes out.  
  
Hey, does anyone know where I can get the YYH Kurama vs. Karasu DVD? I've been looking for like ever, and I can't find it!! *cries*  
  
But you know why I'm telling you all this? Because I'm procrastinating from writing this next chap. I don't think fight scenes are my strong points . . .-_-  
  
But it's this or math homework!! ^-^u  
  
Oh yeah, and Ketsueki does have time powers.  
  
*~Chapter Sixteen~*  
  
  
  
"Sands of time!" A thick black aura formed around Ketsueki, large streams of back energy shooting out randomly. Yusuke and Inuyasha jumped and dove out of the way, not sure what the energy would do, but not exactly wanting to find out.  
  
When the energy hit the ground or other various objects, they instantly died, grass turning the color of hay, trees changing as black as the energy that touched it.  
  
Yusuke jumped out of the way when suddenly Ketsueki was next to him.  
  
"Boo." The demon plowed his fist into Yusuke's face, sending the boy sprawling into the dirt.  
  
Inuyasha snarled in anger and swung Tetsusaiga around. "Wind Scar!" He cut through the break in the wind, sending the yellow energy tearing for the apparition.  
  
Ketsueki raised a hand, and Inuyasha could see the air ripple around his palm. The wind scar began to fade as it got closer to the demon, shrinking until it disappeared all together.  
  
"What?" The dog demon stepped back in sheer shock. *He . .he beat the Wind Scar? How?*  
  
Yusuke struggled to his feet, grimacing at the sight. What he had been fearing all along was starting to sink in. *We can't win.*  
  
*We're all gonna die.*  
  
***  
  
"Well if I can't hurt you with energy." Inuyasha snickered, "I'll just kill you the usual way!" He charged forward, trying to hit the time demon.  
  
"Haven't we been through this before?" Ketsueki sneered, "And now I'm going to drive you into the ground."  
  
"I'd like to see you try!" Inuyasha yelled. As Ketsueki's hand reached forward, the dog demon dodged to the side, grinned as he brought Tetsusaiga around.  
  
"Missed." Inuyasha snickered, but his mind was elsewhere. *I can't make direct contact, because he'll turn me into an old fart. Energy attacks don't work, and he can erase physical attacks. Not to mention he can pause time . . .*  
  
Inuyasha blanched, *There's no way to beat him.*  
  
"Finally setting in, is it?" The time demon snickered, "After I take care of you, I suppose I could go after that Naraku person. I was really hoping for a challenge with the great Yusuke Urameshi." he looked over at the detective, who was struggling to his feet. "Don't look so mighty now."  
  
"And Inuyasha." He smiled, "Well before this I had never heard of you, so some thing must have killed you before our time. Not that it would take much to kill you . ."  
  
"Shut up!" Inuyasha roared, attacking blindly. Oh, he'd pay for that remark. Just as he was about to drive his sword through the annoying time demon, his disappeared. Inuyasha felt a swift blow to his back that sent him flying forward, tearing into the dirt.  
  
Yusuke looked at his index finger, wincing. *One bullet left Yusuke, you better make it count.*  
  
  
  
***  
  
Inuyasha pushed himself out off the ground, ignoring his protesting muscles.  
  
"Well I can say one thing for you, half breed. You can take a good beating." Inuyasha grunted and charged again. Ketsueki sighed.  
  
"Is that all you can do? Attack, attack, attack. No strategy involved. It becomes most boring, mutt." With another blow to the dog demon, Ketsueki smiled.  
  
"And most predictable." This time, Inuyasha didn't move, Tetsusaiga lying feet away from his still body.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Yusuke yelled, but the demon didn't stir.  
  
*Dammit!* Yusuke thought darkly, *I've got no choice.*  
  
He charged Ketsueki, swinging his fists wildly. Ketsueki dodged gracefully, disappearing and reappearing.  
  
"Your just like the other one." he scoffed. "Let's end this." The time demon pulled back his fist, aiming straight for Yusuke's face.   
  
At the last second Yusuke swivelled out of the way, turning behind the demon. Ketsueki's eyes widened as Yusuke wrapped his arms around the demons shoulders, gripping him in an arm lock.  
  
"Keiko!" he yelled, "Take care of the others for me." The girl seemed confused and he smiled. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he was going to miss her, but there was no time for that.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Ketsueki demanded, feeling Yusuke's energy growing behind him.  
  
"Getting rid of you." A huge blast of energy erupted from the detective, enveloping the two boys.  
  
"YUSUKE!" Keiko cried, starting to run for the boy, but Kagome stopped her.  
  
"No, don't!" she said, casting her eyes to Inuyasha. "We can't help them."  
  
The two boys were thrown apart as a huge explosion rang out. Neither moved once they were on the ground.  
  
"Is it really . . .over?" Yukina whispered. Keiko broke away from Kagome and began to run towards Yusuke, but was stopped as Ketsueki's hands dug into the grass, pushing himself up.  
  
"Damn Urameshi." he murmured, a trickle of blood dripping from his lips. His chest was ravaged with holes, limbs devastated. One by one they began to fill in, like someone had pressed the rewind button.  
  
Once again rejuvenated he stood, looking over to the detective, who wasn't moving. Inuyasha, too, had not moved from his spot on the ground. Ketsueki grinned.  
  
"Well it seems detective, that there is no one left to protect your friends." He stood at the feet of the detective. "Maybe if you had hit me between the eyes with that attack it would have worked, but I guess not. For such an acclaimed and feared boy you didn't prove to be much of a challenge."  
  
Ketsueki turned and walked away, "Sacrificing your life to save a tramp like that."  
  
"You bastard." Yusuke growled, sitting up and struggling to his feet. "How dare you. How dare you . ." His ki flared and Ketsueki's eyes narrowed.  
  
"You have no energy left, human." He said, as if in denial of the bright blue aura he was seeing. But Yusuke didn't hear him.  
  
"Don't you ever." he snarled. Now his ki was doubling, tripling, growing an incredible size. "Talk about Keiko like that."  
  
His muscles bulged, hair pushing from his head until it met the backs of his knees. Tattoos flared up over his skin, canines lengthening into gnashing fangs, his eyes glowing red.  
  
Ketsueki backed up a step and turned to face a very pissed off Inuyasha. His eyes were crimson, teeth twice the size they were, clawed hands twitching in anticipation. Tetsusiaga was no where in sight.  
  
  
  
"No Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. "Your soul will be devoured!" But he ignored her.  
  
Kagome but her lip. *I can't even help them! Wait . .maybe . .* she reached for her bow.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Two half breeds. This could prove to be interesting."  
  
With a roar of anger from both the demons, they launched themselves at the time demon, faster and more cunning than ever. Ketsueki could barely dodge the flying fists and raking claws. He ducked away from Yusuke just to get rammed in the face by Inuyasha.  
  
The girls could barely see, the fists were flying so fast, but they could tell Ketsueki was being pushed back.  
  
Ketsueki ducked out of the way and felt a searing pain in his arm. His slid in the dirt, turning to look at the limb. Or were it used to be. His eyes widened in horror as he saw his arm land a few feet away, twitching. Black blood leaked from the wound as the time apparition scrambled to his feet, backing away from the two.  
  
Yusuke licked his bloody fingers. "Betcha can't heal that."  
  
"Now for the other one." Inuyasha grinned, launching himself at the demon. Ketsueki flipped back and dodged, heart throbbing in his chest with fear.  
  
*How did they become so strong?!*  
  
Yusuke jumped into the air, bringing his fist down to plow into the ground where the time demon had been moments before. Inuyasha dove at the demon, grinning sadistically.  
  
"Now who's running?" Yusuke pointed his index finger, demon and spirit energy forming a huge ball. "Spirit gun!"  
  
The energy blasted forward just as Inuyasha came around on Ketsueki's other side.  
  
"Sankon Tessu!" he screamed, the yellow energy ripping for the shocked demon.  
  
Time stopped. Literally.  
  
Ketsueki stepped out of the of the paused attacks, grinning. "You forget, I still have the upper hand."  
  
*I will flee to another time, get stronger, so I can face this two again.* he turned, just to come face to face with a bolting sacred arrow.  
  
A huge explosion of black energy encompassed the entire area, slamming both Yusuke and Inuyasha back as the their energy hit, sending them both into darkness. A final scream rang out, then silence.  
  
***  
  
Naraku picked a tiny shining shard out of a puddle of black blood, frowning. "Such arrogance. I had hope for that one." He disappeared, leaving nothing but a baboon pelt in his wake.  
  
WOOO!!  
  
Was that an awesome chap or what?!  
  
Sensei: Cheeto is addicted to cliffhangers.  
  
Cheeto: It's Sycogerls fault!!! *hides*  
  
Cheeto: *sighs* I had so much fun writing that! Whew! It was hard, my heart is all a flutter!!  
  
Sensei: *sigh* Review!! 


	17. The price of Victory

Hi! I'm updating early! Aren't you glad?  
  
Why, you ask?  
  
Well . .*sweat drops* . .um . ..I have an eye doctor appointment on Saturday and I'm kinda worried about my eyes cuz I see funky stuff and I'm worried that I have a disease or tumor or something. -_-u  
  
So even if I do go blind, you'll know what happens to our favorite characters!! ^-^  
  
Sensei: You overreact.  
  
Cheeto: You know what, shuddup! I can worry about my eyes if I want! You can't be an author if your blind, dummyhead!!  
  
Sensei: -_-  
  
Cheeto: Anyways, I got DDR Max 2!! So spiffy!! So fun! But I'm out of shape so I'm on light! -_-  
  
I can do standard though!!! Well, some . . .  
  
But anyways, story is winding down . . .yeah. I love this story so much, I don't want it to end!! *cries* But I will, indeed, (if I'm not blind) continue my writing of fanfictions. I already have another in the works now, but this one's pure humor!^-^  
  
But anyway, on with the story!  
  
*~Chapter Seventeen~*  
  
Yusuke opened his eyes slowly, blinking in annoyance of the bright lights. Whispering invaded his ears and he rolled over, bunching the covers over his head to filter out the sound.  
  
"Yusuke? Are you awake?" Keiko's sweet voice came to his ears, but he just curled up in a tight cover-ball.  
  
"Leamee alone." A muffled reply rose from the lump. She raised an eyebrow and shook him. Gaining no response, she took a corner of the blanket and ripped it off. Yusuke lay still for a moment, one hand reaching out to try and find the missing covers. After finding none, he sat up, annoyed.  
  
"What?!" he expected to be in his room, Atsuko standing over him, ready to bean him with his book bag for sleeping in. Instead he saw Keiko, and he was definitely not in his room. Everything came rushing back to him.  
  
"Shit." He muttered, grabbing Keiko by the arms. "He didn't hu8rt you did he? He didn't . .?" Yusuke swallowed hard at the prospects of what that psycho could have done to her.  
  
"No, Yusuke, I'm fine." She smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thanks to you. I was really worried when you didn't wake up the first day."  
  
The punk scratched his head. "How many days have I been out?"  
  
"Three days."  
  
"Three days?!" Yusuke cried, "But I killed him, right?! Why the heck did I pass out?!"  
  
"I don't know." The girl tapped her chin, "There was an explosion or something-"  
  
"It was a shockwave." They both turned to the door. Kurama stood leaning heavily against the doorframe, face contorted in pain, an arm cast protectively over the blood bandages around his middle.  
  
"Kurama, if Botan finds out you're up already . ." Shippo said nervously from behind him, following Kurama into the room as the elder fox sat down wearily.  
  
"It's alright Shippo."  
  
"How you doing, Kurama?" Yusuke asked worriedly as he looked at the fox's wound. The bandages stretched from the top of his ribs down past his navel, and were soaked through with blood.  
  
"A little worse for wear, but I'll survive." He grimaced in pain. "The shockwave was Ketsueki's dying attack. It did little damage, but did knock you and Inuyasha out for quite some time."  
  
"How about the others? Are they okay? Is Kuwabara still . .?" His mind flashed back to when Kuwabara slid to the ground, hair white as a sheet and wrinkles a dozen facelifts couldn't fix.  
  
"When Ketsueki died, whatever he did to Kuwabara reversed. He's as normal as someone like him gets." As if one cue, Kuwabara burst into the room, wrapped head to toe in bandages, thanks to Kurama's plant.  
  
"Urameshi!" A wide grin filled the red head's face as he ran over, giving the other boy a noogie. "Don't scare me like that you punk!" He looked up at Kurama, grinning.  
  
"Hey Kurama! I been waiting like forever for you guys to wake up!" he studied the demon for a moment. "You sure you're okay, you don't look so good."  
  
"He's right Kurama, you look awful." Keiko murmured as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He was ghostly pale from blood loss and his hands where shaking.  
  
"I'll be fine in a few days." Keiko looked at him doubtingly. "You should go and rest."  
  
"Yes, I suppose. If Botan finds out that I'm up already-"  
  
"There you are!" A voice shrieked from behind him. The fox winced, not having to turn around to know who the voice belonged to. Botan stomped up to look him square in the face.  
  
"What have I told you about getting up before you've healed?! I swear, you're impossible! Well you're going right back to bed mister, and you aren't moving until-" While ranting, Botan had grabbed one of his fox ears, hauling Kurama out of the room.  
  
The second the two left, the group burst into laughter. "Couples' counseling anyone?" Yusuke snickered, then looked around, frowning. "Hey, where's Hiei?"  
  
"Yukina's with him, she says he's going to wake up soon." Kuwabara frowned and crossed his arms. "If I wasn't so sure my Yukina is so totally and deeply in love with me, I'd think something was going on."  
  
***  
  
Sango was unwrapping a few of her wounds and examining them, trying to judge the severity. Miroku peeked in the doorway, smiling. "Sango, how are you?"  
  
"Fine." She glared at him, her face a perfect poker. No, she hadn't forgotten the situation after the fire.  
  
"Need some help?" *Well, this is turning into a perfect deja vu.* "No."  
  
"I won't ask you to take of your shirt this time."  
  
"No."  
  
"Or anything else." She eyed him warily. The monk grinned sheepishly. "Alright, but if you make one advance . ."  
  
"I won't, scout's honor." Sango raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What's a scout?" The monk shrugged.  
  
"I don't know, Kagome says it a lot." He sat down across from her, taking her arm and gently beginning to wrap a puncture hole near her wrist. He worked meticulously, not allowing his hands or eyes to stray.  
  
"I heard you helped me, when I was down." He nodded and tied a small bow, securing the bandage. He was gentle, as he had been before, and careful. She watched him, opening her mouth again, struggling for words.  
  
"I heard you were injured because of me." He looked up, bringing their faces centimeters apart.  
  
"No big deal."  
  
They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Miroku moved forward and Sango's eyelid's dropped half way, waiting for him to kiss her. He stopped millimeters away from her lips.  
  
"I need to check on Inuyasha." He was so close, she could almost feel his lips brush hers. With that, he stood, leaving the girl in her rapture. She blinked and watched him leave. *I don't mind those kinds of advances!*  
  
***  
  
Yukina rocked back on her heels, exhausted. She had worked tirelessly to raise Hiei's body temperature, as long as it took. If she rose it to slowly he would die of hypothermia, and if she raised it to quickly he would go into an even deeper state of shock and die.  
  
Wiping her brow, she sighed. Finally she had gotten him stabilized, and it looked like he would pull through. She watched as he began to stir, then sat up.  
  
"Brother, you're awake!" she exclaimed in happiness. His eyes widened at the title. *Brother? Who told her?! It better have not been that ferry girl-*  
  
She was watching him, concern clouding her features. "Hiei . .why didn't you tell me?" The simple question sent him struggling for an answer. He had always told the others it was for her protection, that his enemies would come after her if she knew.  
  
But that was only part of the story.  
  
"I . .I was afraid." He stuttered, turning away from the crimson eyes that mirrored his own, unable to look at her. "I was afraid . .afraid of rejection. I was afraid that if you knew that your 'wonderful' brother was a murderer and a thief. . ." he stopped, choking on his own words.  
  
He turned back to her, daring to meet her sweet eyes with his haunted ones, betraying emotion that he had never before revealed.  
  
"I didn't want to disappoint you." His eyes quickly diverted down, afraid of her reaction.  
  
There was silence between them for a few moments, and Hiei cursed himself. How had he expected her to react?! Defeated, all his desperate hopes shattered, he began to get to his feet.  
  
Suddenly, her arms flew around him, holding him tightly, clutching him if she were afraid he'd vanish.  
  
"Hiei, you're my brother. I love you. I love you no matter what." She looked at him, small stones dropping from her eyes. Taking his hands in her tiny ones, holding them tenderly, she forced his eyes to meet hers. "You've always looked out for me, been there for me. You could never disappoint me. Never. I don't care what you've done."  
  
She smiled delicately, biting her lip as if she were reluctant to tell him something. "When I was looking for my brother, when you were . . .I'd always hoped that . . .he'd be just like you."  
  
The words struck home. Hiei looked down at his little sister, not able to conceal his shock as she wrapped her arms around him once again. He returned the embrace wholeheartedly, feeling as if the weight of the world had just fallen off his shoulders.  
  
"I've finally found you." She whispered and he smiled, fully, an expression that was so foreign on his face. For the first time, he was truly happy.  
  
"Yukina!" Kuwabara stood in the doorway, shocked at the sight of his girlfriend in the arms of another man. Especially since that man happened to be Hiei. "How could you do this to me, sugar plumb?"  
  
She smiled and pulled away from the fire demon, going over to Kuwabara.  
  
"Kazuma, I"d like you to meet my brother."  
  
"WHAT?!" Kuwabara promptly passed out.  
  
"Oh, Kazuma!"  
  
"Imbecile."  
  
***  
  
Kagome wrung out a small cloth into a bowl and replaced it on Inuyasha's head, sinking deep into her thoughts. After the final explosion, after Inuyasha and Yusuke had been thrown back, they had struggled to get all the wounded out of the field. Thankfully, Miroku had woken up and was able to contact Hachi, which had made their trip much easier. The racoon had transformed and flew them all to Kaede's, where she 'politely requested' the use of one of the villagers houses residing in her town. Of course they didn't refuse.  
  
They had been caring for their friends the past few days, Kagome becoming worried after Inuyasha hadn't woken up the first. But she heard that Yusuke was up, so maybe . . .  
  
She snapped from her thoughts as she felt the dog demon move. His eyes opened and he sat up hurriedly, his eyes darting about.  
  
"It's okay, Inuyasha, Ketsueki's dead."  
  
"Kagome?" He looked at her for a moment, then quickly cast his eyes down. She understood, it was bizarre how much she and Kikyo looked alike.  
  
Suddenly, she wanted to leave. It was her fault. Everything was her fault. Kikyo leaving . .Kagome wanted nothing more than to make it all go away. To take the pain away that showed in Inuyasha's eyes. She should have just stayed in her own time, maybe if she had . . .  
  
Kagome suddenly realized she was crying and raised a hand to wipe her eyes.  
  
"What the heck is wrong with you?!" he demanded, but she wouldn't look at him.  
  
"Come on, don't cry! What did I do now?"  
  
"You jerk." He gently tipped her face up to look at him, his expression stern.  
  
"Why are you crying." He demanded. Tears streamed down her face as she held back another sob.  
  
"It's my fault. It's all my fault Kikyo left." She took a shuddering breath. "You should go find her, so you two can be happy together and I'll go back to my time. . ."  
  
"It isn't your fault." He said, cutting her off. "I finally realized . . ." He struggled for words.  
  
"Kikyo is the past, and if you try to hold onto the past, you get lost in it, and forget about the future. It was my decision to let her go, to let go of my past, and try to move on. I'll always love her, and I'll always miss her. But maybe you . .and I . .can have a future . .together?"  
  
Kagome blinked, tears long forgotten. *That's the sweetest thing he's ever said. I think that's the only sweet thing he's ever said.*  
  
"Why are you staring at me?" She pushed forward, bringing her lips to his. He was startled for a moment, then kissed her back. Maybe they could be together, maybe . . .  
  
"Am I interrupting something?" They broke away and glared at a very embarrassed Miroku.  
  
"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE YOU PERVERT?!"  
  
"It was an accident, I swear!"  
  
"GET BACK HERE!"  
  
***  
  
"Kurama, if you keep pushing your luck you're going to kill yourself!" Botan shouted worriedly as he sat down, exhausted. "Your wounds are still mostly open and if you put strain on them they'll tear open and kill you!"  
  
"Please, Botan, lower your voice." The fox said, cradling his head, ears pressed flat in pain. The girl knelt next to him, gently touching his cheek.  
  
"Is your head still bothering you?" He looked at her, eyebrow raised. *Isn't that the understatement of the year.* It was like the worst hangover he had ever had, which you can imagine is pretty bad, multiplied endlessly, along with the feeling of being beaten over the head with a cinder block.  
  
"I take that as a yes. Do you want me to heal it for you?" He smiled slightly and shook his head then grimaced, that not proving to be the most intelligent of actions. After all the healing she had been doing recently, he was more worried about her welfare than his migraine.  
  
"Don't worry about me. It takes more than a few scratches to kill Youko Kurama." She smiled, but bit her lip. They both knew how close he was to death when Kagome handed her that Shikon shard. She tapped his nose playfully and grinned.  
  
"Maybe, but don't refer to yourself in the third person, it makes you sound snobbish." She smiled and circled around behind him. "Now stay still, I have to remove the bandages."  
  
She gently began unwrapping his wound, eyes dark, but somewhat relieved. After the first day, Botan noticed that thought the sacred jewel was keeping the fox alive, it was preventing him from healing. She had summoned Yukina and removed the jewel, both of the girl's flooding the fox's body with energy.  
  
Surprised at how much healing energy they actually had, the two had been able to heal two of the center gashes. After that, Kaede had grabbed a thick needle and string, and sown up the other three, much to Kurama's discomfort.  
  
The fact that he healed incredibly quickly helped too.  
  
She gently traced the one of the outer ones, healing energy trickling from her and into the wound. Thick black thread crisscrossed across the wounds, holding them together, blood seeping through the small openings.  
  
Re-wrapping his chest and back in clean bandages, Botan ordered Kurama to lay down. He complied, wincing in pain as his injuries came into contact with the bed. She got up to leave, but Kurama gently caught her wrist.  
  
"Don't leave." He murmured. She looked at him curiously and sat down, lacing her fingers with his. She stayed with him until he fell into a light sleep and past, not knowing why she lingered, but she did.  
  
Cheeto: *munches carrot.* Aww! Wasn't that so sweet?! I love fluff! *gushes*  
  
Sensei: You? Fluff?  
  
Cheeto: Yeah! *Munches more carrots*  
  
Sensei: You sneer at people when they cry, you roll your eyes at mushy stuff, and you play red rover in wall mart!  
  
Cheeto: Yeah, your right. *Eats more carrots.*  
  
Sensei: Why are you eating carrots?  
  
Cheeto: They improve your eyesight!! GIVE ME CARROTS, I WILL NOT BE BLIND!!  
  
*Stuffs face full of carrots*  
  
Sensei: -_- review! Still one chap left and credits (if Cheeto doesn't go blind), so review!! 


	18. Until we meet again

Cheeto: Hiya peoples! I missed my eye doctor appointment because it was my friends birthday, so I donno about my eyes. -_-  
  
Anyways. Yeah, here it is. The last chapter.   
  
*breaks down crying.*  
  
Sensei: *rolls eyes and pats Cheeto's head as she cries on his shoulder.* It's okay. Your writing another story , remember?  
  
Cheeto: *Perks immediately, then cries again.* But this is my masterpiece!! *runs away sobbing.*  
  
Sensei: *sighs* Okay, I will try and drag Cheeto back, so you read the story. ^-^  
  
*~Chapter Eighteen~*  
  
  
  
Almost everyone had gathered in the center of the house.  
  
"Where's Kurama and Botan?" Sango asked, wondering about the two's absence. Shippo came into the room, closing the door quietly behind him.  
  
"Sleeping."  
  
Yusuke's eyes widened. "You mean as in . .together? As in . .?" He blushed cherry red.  
  
"Get your mind out of the gutter." Shippo said, rolling his eyes. "Kurama's sleeping and Botan's watching him. Gees." Kuwabara began to laugh hysterically.  
  
"Yeah Urameshi! Next we'll be washing your mouth out with soap!" he laughed uncontrollably, causing a vein to pop out on Yusuke's forehead. He punched Kuwabara in the head. "Shut up!"  
  
"Hey, you shouldn't punch the injured!" He ran up to Yukina, taking her hands. "Yukina, would you heal Kazuma's widdle boo boo?" It hurts so much! Maybe you can kiss it and make it better . ." Hiei growled and Yusuke got up, going over to the demon and punching him in the shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry Hiei. You'll find someone special one day. How far off that is, I can't tell you-"  
  
"Don't touch me." The fire demon snarled, "That is, if you enjoy living. Or maybe I'll just send you running to your girlfriend like the baka over there."  
  
"Your gonna get it runt!"  
  
"Maybe you should have Yukina heal that 'widdle boo boo.' Apparently that blow to the head destroyed what little brain cells you had left."  
  
The other group watched the verbal assault continue, seat-dropping. "I'll never understand them."  
  
"Oh, believe me, the boys at school are worse."   
  
"Speaking of that." Yusuke grinned, wrapping his arm around Keiko. "Did I kick ass or what? First I was gettin the crap beaten out of me, them bam! Demon form, hello! Then Ketsueki's all like 'Ahh!' then-"  
  
"Yes, Yusuke. I know. I was there, remember?"  
  
"Yeah!" Inuyasha yelled, "And I was the one that killed him!"  
  
"Yeah right!"  
  
Thus ensued another ridiculous argument, the Yusuke and Inuyasha's faces inches apart, yelling about who 'really' killed Ketsueki, veins popping out of their foreheads as they glared daggers at each other.  
  
"Boys . ."  
  
"Oh whatever, you couldn't kill flies on the windshield!"  
  
"What the hell's a windshield?! You couldn't kill flies, period!"  
  
"Boys . ."  
  
"WELL YOUR STUPID!"  
  
"WHAT KIND OF COMEBACK IS THAT?!"  
  
"Boys . ."  
  
"SHUT UP!" Botan screeched from the side door. "SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"  
  
The door slammed behind her.  
  
"What's her problem?" Inuyasha asked, looking at the other boy.  
  
"I donno. PMS?"  
  
"Yusuke!" *Bam*  
  
"Ow, what did I do now?!"   
  
Shippo shook his head. "And they call me immature."   
  
Miroku grinned. "Actually, Inuyasha, it was Kagome that defeated Ketsueki with one of her sacred arrows."   
  
Both boys' jaws dropped, staring at the girl, who frowned.  
  
"I can take care of my self, thank you!" Kaede appeared, oblivious to the various debates, laying down a tray filled with glasses as she sat down.  
  
"Ye must stay for at least two more days." She said, " I know not how time travel will affect Ye's wounds, so it would be best if Ye is fully recovered before leaving."  
  
Yusuke groaned. "Two more days? Man, I am really starting to miss toilet paper." He and scratched his butt exaggeratedly.  
  
"Yusuke!"  
  
*~Two days later~*  
  
They all stood in front of the house. Kurama was leaning on Kuwabara's shoulder, the rest near fully recovered.  
  
The girls all exchanged hugs, promising to keep in touch and visit, things like that. Miroku offered to give hugs, which the girls politely declined.  
  
Hiei had been glaring at Kurama, everyone else taking a step back in fear of the smack down that was about to take place.  
  
Hiei stared at the fox, then slowly closed his eyes and nodded, Kurama returning the gesture. The others breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"You can't leave!" Shippo wailed, running for the elder fox demon. He jumped up, Kurama catching him before the little fox could make contact with his wound, holding the him gently. Kurama smiled gently and ran a hand through his hair, pulling out a shockingly white rose. He handed it to the little demon, who clutched its thornless stem tightly.  
  
Tears welled up in Shippo's eyes. "You'll come visit with Kagome, right?" Kurama nodded.  
  
"But what if your boss wont let you?" Kurama ruffled his hair as he had when they first met, and smiled.  
  
"Don't worry, I don't listen to Koenma anyways." Shippo smiled and hugged him, then jumped from his arms, and began to sprint for Kaede's hut.  
  
Yusuke walked up to Inuyasha, stretching out his hand. "Had a hell of a time."  
  
Inuyasha smirked, grasping the punks hand firmly, shaking it. "Can't argue with that." The two turned and walked to opposing sides with their friends, still smirking arrogantly.  
  
"Ready to go, guys?" They all nodded, Botan fiddling with her watch.  
  
Sango reached out and took Miroku's hand. He looked at her strangely and she smiled, not noticing where his other hand was going.  
  
"UH! You PERVERT! You never learn, do you?!" her boomerang appeared out of nowhere, and she promptly smacked him over the head with it.  
  
Yusuke snickered, but felt the overwhelming urge to do the same with Keiko. Not the perverted part, the hand holding part. Well, he actually wouldn't mind doing the perverted part . .   
  
Yusuke intertwined his fingers with hers. She turned to look at him, somewhat puzzled, somewhat happy expression on her face.  
  
*I'll always be there for you, Keiko.* With a flash of blinding light, team Urameshi disappeared with a puff of smoke, nothing but a memory.  
  
***  
  
Shippo smiled as he backed out of the closet, running back to his friends. Inside the dark confines of the tiny area lay a beautiful rose, embraced in the soft fur of a golden fox pelt.  
  
*Fini*  
  
Cheeto: *types last word.* There. It's finished.  
  
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!  
  
Sensei: *Puts in ear plugs and sighs* THERE IS ONE MORE SORT-OF CHAPTER!!!! IT'S THE CREDITS CHAPTER!! CHEETO WILL PERSONALLY RESPOND TO ALL OF HER REVIEWERS!!!  
  
Cheeto: What are you yelling for?  
  
Sensei: WHAT?!  
  
Cheeto: * Pulls out Sensei's earplugs* WHAT ARE YOU YELLING FOR?!  
  
Sensei: @.@  
  
Cheeto: *snickers* Ok guys, until the credits! ^-^ 


	19. Credits

Cheeto: Hiya peeps! The responses are in alphabetical order (sorry, I'm weird like that).  
  
*Sniffles*  
  
Sensei: Oh no. DUCK AND COVER!!  
  
*Jumps behind couch*  
  
Cheeto: My . .story's . . .OVER!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! *Hic* Okay, I'm done now.  
  
Sensei: x.X  
  
Cheeto: Okay, first of all, I would like to thank Sensei, for all his help on this fic. *holds out little gold statue*  
  
*applauding*  
  
Sensei: *grows teary eyed* Really? *Comes up and takes statue, and bows* I would like to thank my mama-san and my papa-san and-  
  
Cheeto: Okay, okay, okay!! Next I would like to thank all of my wunnerful reviewers, who inspired and encouraged me to write this fic. *Hands awards out to reviewers*  
  
Below I have typed a personal message to each and everyone of you. Thanks guys, you really helped with this fic, and I love you all!!! . . . As friends!!  
  
Oh yeah:  
  
** = people that way uber inspired and I love them forever and stuff!! ^-^  
  
*~#~*  
  
**???- I updated soon! And now its over . . .*cries* Oh well! Onto the next fic! Thanks for the review!  
  
**#1Hieifan- really? Thanks a lot! *huggles*  
  
  
  
*~A~*  
  
  
  
**Aerositi- Nooo!! Pooor hobo!! *cries over hobo's grave* It's okay, we're all idiots once in a while!! *digs into candy bag* mmmm . . .sugar!! Thanks for the review!! I didn't kill him, aren't you happy?  
  
**Alena- Well, now its finished! Hope you liked it!  
  
**Angelfirey- WEE! *huggles* Thank you for all your reviews, your comments were greatly appreciated! Yeah, poor Hiei. *ataacks cookie* Mmm . . sugar . . lol.Thanks for the reviews! *huggles* You rock!!  
  
**Anichan- YAY!! Another one of my favorite reviewers!! Yeah, got to stay away from those dang death threats, don't want to be a mosquito in your next life! ^-^  
  
**AnimeChik06- Yay new Inuyasha! 8cheers* The new one rock, cept they only translated a few! Jerks!! Glad you liked it! *Huggles*  
  
  
  
**Animegirl101- I made him come back!! Don't cry!! Thanks for reading!!  
  
**AnnechanB- I know, I just torture everyone! Thanks for the review!  
  
**AnthonyR- Yeah, I just couldn't bring myself to kill him. And he's my favorite character, isn't that so wrong! I'm sick! ^-^ Glad ya liked it! *huggles*  
  
  
  
*~B~*  
  
**Babu - *shudders* Karasu . .I hate that guy! Botan is an airhead, but she's spiffy kewl. Her and Kurama are so cute together! Thanks for the review!  
  
  
  
**BC1- Glad ya love it! ^-^ Thanks for the review!  
  
**Big Fan- I'm really happy that you liked it! *hugs* Thanks for reading!  
  
**BLAAHHZZYY- BABOONZ!! *dances like a monkey* Thanks for reading!!  
  
**Blank- I know, But all good things must come to an end. *cries* Thanks for reading!!  
  
  
  
**Blue bear- Poor Hiei. Yup. I just love torture!* grins sadistically* Thanks for reading!  
  
  
  
*~C~*  
  
  
  
**C4- No more updates . . .*cries* But I hope you liked it! ^-^  
  
**Cerulean Solitaire- SESSHA!! *huggles* Thanks for your criticism, it made me beat myself in the head for bein stupid!! I haven't gotten a review from you in a while, so I don't know if your still readin, but luv ya anyways! ^-^ Insomniacs forever!!  
  
**Choco cat- Inuyasha is a jerk a lot of the time, but he can be a good guy . .sometimes . .heheh. Thanks for the review!  
  
**Confetti- *grins* Glad ya liked it!  
  
**Confused- Shippo is cute! But not as cute as Kurama *grins as Sensei slaps forehead* Sorry there is no more story, but there might be a sequel! It might be YYH/RK, but it's still a sequel! Yeah, I know how you feel. It's 80 degrees here and our AC aint working either! And its October!! How jacked up is that? Thanks for reading! *hugs*  
  
  
  
*~D~*  
  
  
  
**Deity of Death1- I sorry, but now it's over! So no more cliffies! ^-^ No stroke! They're bad!! ^-^. But I shall always remember you as the girl who got me to 200! *huggles* Thank you soooo much!! You are one of my best and most treasured reviewers!  
  
**Devilndisgus247- Really? *lip quivers* Thank you!! *hugs* Thanks for the praise and reviews!!  
  
**Devils girl- Oh heck yeah, RK rocks!!! Sano . .*drools* heheh. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
**DragonBlade- Yay pokemon! *grins* I like vulpix, it reminds me of Kurama! *grins harder* Kurama . . .heheh. Thanks for reading!  
  
  
  
**Dreamin- Shippo it way cute! Thanks for the review!!  
  
  
  
*~E~*  
  
  
  
**EvilAngel15- Your favorite? *cries and huggles* MY LIFE IS TRULY COMPLETED!! Yeah, we so need more Kurama/Botan fans out there, ne? Heheh. Thank you so much! *huggles again* Your review made me run around the house screaming 'I can die happy'  
  
Thanks to you, I can die happy! Lol. Thank you for reading, you are a wunnerful reviewer!  
  
**Evil Towel- Are you serious?! I talked to a few of my friends and they said the same thing, because I look up into the sky and stuff and see little dot things jumping around. Thanks for the faith, and the reviews! *huggles* You rock way hard, thanks for reading!  
  
**Eponine-in-training- Glad you liked it!! *huggles* Thanks for reading!  
  
*~F~*  
  
**Fan- Umm . . kinda late to be asking, ne? But thanks for reviewing!  
  
**Firefly- Thanks for reading!  
  
*~G~*  
  
*~H~*  
  
**HA!- Glad ya liked it! *huggles*  
  
**HAWK SAGE- *huggles* Glad ya liked it! Thanks for the review!  
  
**Heatwave- Thanks for reading!  
  
**Hello Kitty- What did I do?! *cries* I'm not bad!! *shakes head* Lol. But Miroku lived, doesn't that make you happy? ^-^ Thanks for the review!  
  
**Hieifan- Glad you liked it! Thanks a lot!  
  
**Hieis2dreamer- Thanks for the review!  
  
**Hioki- OMG your reviews are so FUNNY! *dies laughing* I love it when I get a review from you, cracks me up! Poor Ramen stock pile . . . Thanks for being such a great fan! *huggles*  
  
*~I~*  
  
*~J~*  
  
**Jaid Skywalker_ I love K/B. I'm glad you liked my story, i tried really hard to blend the two! Thanks for the praise!  
  
**Jessecheaux Kuwabara- JESSE-BUDDY!! *huggles* You are like my bestest fan and stuff. I would all be having a bad day then I'd check my mail and get your reviews and I'd feel better! I love your stories, thanks so much for checking out mine. You're a great author, and I'm glad you liked my story. ^-^  
  
**Jesse-James-0014- Thank you! I tried as hard as I could with adding in Inuyasha, glad you liked it! Thanks for reading!  
  
**Jen23- Ah, yes, Kurama/Botan. I love it. Thank you for the praise, it's always welcomed! ^-~*  
  
**Jin- Yup, K/B rocks. Thanks for reading! *hugs*  
  
**Jumper Prime- Yusuke and Vash? Oh lord!! *laughs hysterically* Thanks for reading!  
  
  
  
*~K~*  
  
  
  
**Kagome-tsuki- One of my most faithful fans! *huggles* Thanks for being such a great fan! Glad you like it.  
  
**Kami Anya- I would buy it online, but my rents wont let me. -_-u Thanks for reading!  
  
**Karasu8- Mikos rock, congrats! Glad you liked my story! *candle blows out* Aww . .dang . . .^-^  
  
**Kasia Matsubishi- Glad you liked it! Yeah that part was perty funny! ^-^  
  
**Kathy Da Kitsune Kat- didn't kill him!! Don't flame me to death!!! *hides* Thanks for reading!  
  
**Koganeiro Kitsune- Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. The next story will be all humor, but I'll have another action one after that. BTW- I absolutely LOVE all of your stories! They are so fricken good, please write more!! *puppy dog eyes* *hugs* Thanks for being such a great reviewer and friend!  
  
**Kirara28- Hope you liked it! Thanks for the review!*hugs*  
  
**Kitsuneblood- Hey, I like your story, Its funny! Thanks for reading, I hope to see more of your work! BTW- It wasn't Sensei's fault, I just love to torture Kurama! ^-^  
  
**KitsuneLover (KL)- Glad to know you liked it. Sorry, I like K/B over K/S, so . .yeah. Thank you for the review! ^-^  
  
**Kurama no Miko2003- *munches carrots* Thankies! Fluff is so great, I love it! Thanks for the extra info too, Kami knows I needed it!  
  
  
  
*~L~*  
  
  
  
**Lemmings-please- EEP! *struggles against rope* It's over! Let me goooo!!! *cries* Help!! HHEEELLLPPP!!!  
  
**Lilfrozenfire- ou like it? Really? *grins* Thanks a lot! WEE! *huggles*  
  
**Lil-miko-angel- Thanks a bunch! I didn't kill him, so no be angry!!  
  
  
  
*~M~*  
  
  
  
**Mai-ly- How could I wrap it up?! ITS MY MASTERPIECE!! But thanks for reviewing!! ^-^  
  
**Maria Rosenfire- Yeah, I get caught up in the action moment, j00 know? Lol. And I love criticism, it's very helpful! *hugs* Hope you liked the story, thanks for the review!  
  
**Mashi Maro- Yoo hoo! Kurama fans unite! Thanks for the review!  
  
**Me, myself, and I- Thanks for reading!!  
  
**Mercury Elf- Don't worry, your ideas are very good! You should write fanfics too!  
  
**Me too . . .- Umm . . .I understood the last part! ^-^;. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
**Miss L- *Chibi dances along side* WEE!! I love your reviews! They make me laugh way hard!!! Another K/B fan, we need more of em out there! I'm so glad you liked my chaps, you are like one of my favorite reviewers!! *huggles to death* YAY!!  
  
**Mr. M16- I greatly appreciated all of your praise, I was grinning from ear to ear when I read them. Your questions were great too, I hope I helped! (You really think they would be jealous?) *blushes* Thank you so much, you are really an awesome fan!!  
  
  
  
*~N~*  
  
**NarakuGirl032- EEP! *hides* I didn't kill him, so don't kill me!! T_T  
  
**Neyumi- Hahaha! You cow! I reject you!! Lol. But I know you, so I can yell at you. ^-^ And I can TOO write romantic moments!! So there!!!  
  
**No one important- You are important!! *huggles* And thanks, I was trying really hard with that first chap because there was like no dialog, glad you approve! ^-^  
  
**Nyoko- Thanks for reading, glad you liked it!! *hugs*  
  
  
  
*~O~*  
  
*~P~*  
  
**Panda Ballerina- Thank you so much! It's always good to know I can please a tough croud!  
  
**PassionateAngel- I know! Poor Yukina, poor keiko! I'm just so darn MEAN!! Lol. Thanks for the review!!  
  
**Pchanfeeshy- You love my crossover, and I love your name!! Uber-spiffy! Thanks for reviewing! ^-^  
  
**Pochacco- Pochacco-chan! *giggles* yeah, Yusuke is an idiot, but we love him anyway! ^-^ Thanks for the review!  
  
**Pokey- Yes . .I updated as fast as I could . .but now its over . . .*sigh* Glad you liked it!! Thanks for the review!  
  
**Psychopathic SixthGrader- ^-^ Glad you liked it!   
  
*~Q~*  
  
**Quatre Winner- Kurama is a way cutie! He's my favorite! Inuyasha's kind cute too . .*drools* heheh. Hope you liked it!  
  
  
  
*~R~*  
  
  
  
**Raia Heartsblood- Heh *sweat drops* Yeah, I am a pretty bloody person. X.x I'm really glad I made your day better! Thanks a lot for reading (And you should post your story! We need more good stories out there!)  
  
**Reader- I'm very glad you think so! Its one of those bored moments when your all like 'I'm gonna write a YYH/IY fanfic!' And then you do! And then people copy your idea! Well, some don't, but I'm wondering about others . . *grumbles* Thanks for reviewing!  
  
**Red Rayne- reeeeaaaaallly? Being an author is my dream! Thank you so much! *huggles* Don't give up hope, try it! I thought I sucked at writing, but apparently not! Thank you thank you thank you! *huggles again* Thanks for reading and leaving such great reviews!!  
  
**Robgirl- Yay Inu/Kag!! That couple rocks, I love Inuyasha! And I love the new episodes!! Glad you liked it, thanks for reading!!  
  
**Roo Roo Bear- Dude, I LOVE your name!! Lol. Thanks for the review!  
  
**Rouge Solus- Ah yes! All hail the incredibly hot bishies!! Lol. Thanks for the review!  
  
  
  
*~S~*  
  
  
  
**Sarah Lee1- My first and best reviewer! *huggles* I hope you liked the demon Yusuke part. It was short, I know but . . Anyways, thanks for being such a committed fan, I love your reviews! ^-^  
  
**Saturnmoosey- Thanks for the review!  
  
**Sediia Nonokarii- Really? Ya think so? *blushes* Thanks for the review!  
  
**Seniorita- Gracias! (Sp?) Lol. Thanks for reading! *hugs*  
  
**Shasyu- Um . .death threats . .hehehe *Steps away very slowly* lol. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
**Silver_dargon_0013- Yeah, Kikyo can go die. She's evil *growls* Yeah, vash rocks! I love Wolfewood, I almost cried when he died. *teary eyes* Thanks for reading! *huggles*  
  
**Smile7499- I keep trying to tell people I suck at writing. But keep disagreeing with me. ^-^ Hey, I like K/B!! (as if you couldn't tell ^-^u) And yes, Yusuke is like the greatest YYH character, he's way uber-spiffy! ^-^  
  
**Soaring- Yeah, I was getting sick of yaoi stories too. Is it just me, or is there like a sudden influx of them? I'm thinking about a sequel with RK, so I hope that makes you happy! ^-^  
  
**Starlit-Night1- Glad you liked it *peace sign*  
  
**Star Nymph and Mercury Elf- Hehehe! Thanks for the review!  
  
**Stone_roses- Thank you! Yeah, I really hate OOC so I was trying as hard as I could NOT to make them out of character. But I wrote! And now I'm done . .*cries* ^-^  
  
**Sugarbunny-dragonblade- Hope you liked the lot twist! And the story! *hugs* thanks for reading.  
  
**SwitchBlade01- Thanks for reading! Glad you liked it!! ^-^  
  
**Sycogerl64- EEP! *tackles* Why haven't you updated?! Must . . know . .what . .HAPPENS!! I'm glad you liked my story! Thanks for being such a great friend.^-^ And your stories are GOOD!! So don't be a cow and think their bad. *smacks* And don't you be stealing my word!  
  
BTW: Cloud 8.9- You're my hero!! :D Cept when your mean to Sycogerl, then you can go die.^-^  
  
  
  
*~T~*  
  
  
  
**Tallen- Glad I made ya laugh! ^-^ Thanks for the review, its always nice. You brightened my day! ^-^  
  
**Tarah- Oh heck yeah! We need more rock fans out there! BTW- Any @$$ kissing will be greatly appreciated! ^ - ~* Thanks for the sympathy when I was shipped off to the evil one. I think I'm going to file cruel and unusual punishment charges against my 'rents. lol. *huggles* You are another great reviewer, thanks so much!!!  
  
**Tenshi5- *huggles* Thank you for the praise! I'm glad you liked it!  
  
**The Dog- *sweat drops* yeah, I guess so! I'll probably end up doing RK/YYH though, but I might do another one with IY! *smiles* Thanks for reading!  
  
**The Kiit- Sorry if I made ya wait! Thanks for the review! ^-^  
  
**Theory Mistress- heheh *trying to shove cursing Hiei into suitcase* hehehe. I'm sure Vivian will like this very much! *grins* Thanks very much for the review!!   
  
**The Youkai Nightmare- Crazy? *eye twitches* What are you talking about? Crazy, me?*laughs hysterically as little men drag Cheeto off to the nuthouse.*  
  
**TheUnlovedOutcast- Mm, not a Kagome fan, are we? Yeah, she can be pretty annoying at times, but it's all good! Hope you liked the story, thanks for the review!  
  
**Thorn- Aw heck, Kurama's cute all the time! Thanks for reading!  
  
**Totally_cool- Thank you! Glad you liked it! *hug*  
  
**TRF-Chan- Glad you liked it! I'm actually planning on a Rurouni Kenshin sequel, but I hope you liked my fic!  
  
**Twix!- Really? You like it? Thankies!! Well now its over, so I hope you liked it!!  
  
*~U~*  
  
*~V~*  
  
**Valkyrie Nienna Helyanwe- woo! That name's a mouth full! Glad ya liked my story! *huggles*  
  
  
  
*~W~*  
  
  
  
**WolfYoukai64- *grins* Scared ya there didn't I? Don't worry, I'm not THAT crazy. *eye twitch* Yay Inuyasha!! Thanks fer reading!!  
  
  
  
*~X~*  
  
*~Y~*  
  
  
  
**YoukoGirl057- Hmm . .sequel . .I believe there was talk of this in previous chapters . .I'm currently thinking YYH/RK . .hmm . .must ponder this . . .I'm sorry I had to end it! *cries* I loved this story so much!! But then I would have had to drag it on and on and on and on and on and then no one would read it and then I would get flamed! ^-^  
  
Thanks for the reviews! *huggles* Glad you liked it!  
  
**YumeMonoGatori- heheh, cliffies are evil, I agree. But I'm addicted to them. *hides face in shame* lol. Thanks for the review!!  
  
**Yusuke1- Yeah, I lover Kurama/Botan. Glad you think a YYH/IY x-over is cool, and that my story is cool!! Thanks for the reviews! *Huggles*  
  
  
  
*~Z~*  
  
  
  
**Zelli-Roan- Kat! Get on the internet you nerd!! I know you personally, so I can yell at you. ^-^  
  
  
  
Sensei: You know you put two stars next to every name, right?  
  
Cheeto: Yeah. *grins* If I got anyone mixed up or forgot anyone, I'm sorry. Just email me and I'll grovel and stuff like that. Well, My newest fic is out now, so go read it! ^-^ *Waves* Until next time guys!!  
  
*Cheeto and Sensei wave as you click out of the story* BYEEEEEEE!!! *Cheeto cries some more.* 


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